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A call to action for healthcare organizations to harness social media to counter the anti-vaccination movement. (Preprint)


 UNSTRUCTURED
 Vaccines have greatly reduced, if not eliminated many devastating diseases. But the number of proponents of the anti-vaccination movement has been growing as ‘anti-vaxxers’ use social media to disseminate misinformation leading to more people choosing not to vaccinate their children or receive vaccines themselves. This has resulted in a lowering of herd immunity and outbreaks around the world. Healthcare organizations need to harness social media to spread accurate information and counter misinformation. Healthcare organizations are reputable sources that can address misinformation, educate the public, accurately explain science and research, and counter misinformation. But they need to be easily accessible and readily involved in online vaccination discussions. Social media serves the anti-vaccination movement by providing several channels to reach audiences; and facilitates the dissemination of a variety of content through both different platforms and different features within a given site. It is crucial for healthcare organizations to use social media in order to (1) have early influence on users, (2) increase direct engagement with users, and (3) counter anti-vaxx claims. How healthcare organizations can harness social media is explained in terms of (1) the content that is posted and where it is posted, (2) passive monitoring of social media.
