Background
Social media can be an effective, timely and direct form of communicaiton with your audience. Increasingly, public health communicators find themselves challenged by a fragmented communication ecosystem, virtually and in real life. The online ecosystem makes it possible for both accurate and inaccurate information to go viral in seconds. Bots and artificial intellegence further add to the complexity of this ecosystem.
Fortunately, several resources exist to help practitioners understand and overcome these separate, but related challenges. The science related to this space continues to evolve. Communicators are encouraged to monitor professional journals to remain grounded in the most promising practices.
Social media's role in emergency communication
The Evolution of Emergency Notifications- Social Media
Department of Health and Human Services, TRACIE Topic Collection: Social Media in Emergency Response
Department of Homeland Security: Innovative Uses of Social Media in Emergency Management
FEMA IS-42 Social Media in Emergency Management online course
Ensuring acurate information breaks through the noise
Infodemiology training helps communicators approach social listening with an epidemiologist's eye. This approach can shape strategic communication interventions by looking beyond our own social platforms to understand the conversations happening in the broader online information ecosystem.
International Journal of Science and Analytics The disaster of misinformation: a review of research on social media is a February 2022 pre-publication version of a systematic analysis of the existing literature on social media and mis-information.
Tips, toolkits and campaigns
News Literacy Project has tools and campaign materials to help educators and others promote media literacy. The site contains everyday tools, along with campaign materials for National News Literacy week, which typically falls in the first half of February.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's How to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation provides practical tips and tools for countering COVID-19 Vaccine misinformation, much of which is easily transferable to other health topics.
Office of the Surgeon General Health Misinformation Reports and Publications includes a Community Toolkit for Addressing Misinformation. Some portions of the toolkit are available in English and Spanish.
Public Health Information Coalition Vaccine Misinformation Management Field Guide provides information "to address the infodemic and foster vaccine demand." This was produced by several trusted partners including Yale's global health program and UNICEF.
US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Disinformation Toolkit focuses on disinformation and social media.
World Health Organization How to Report Misinformation provides quick links to 10 social media platforms' instructions on how to report misinformation.