A qualitative review of social media sharing and the 2022 monkeypox outbreak: did early labelling help to curb misinformation or fuel the fire?

Maria E. Dalton, Robert Duffy, Emma Quinn, Kristian Larsen, Cheryl Peters, Darren Brenner, Lin Yang, Daniel Rainham - Volume 21(1) Ever present in our digital world, misinformation continues to threaten public health efforts and, in some cases, stigmatises specific groups. Our work investigated the evolving rhetoric surrounding monkeypox (mpox) during the 2022 outbreak on Instagram, discovering that perhaps early dialogue singling out men who have sex with men shifted discussions online to combat this misinformation. By understanding the way misinformation is spread, we can better protect against it and create improved communication strategies.
Source: Sexual Health - Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Source Type: research