Digital Injection of Uncertainty: The influence of the Social Media on The Vaccination Hesitancy in The European Unio Társadalomtudományi

35 OTDK, Társadalomtudományi Szekció, Média- és kommunikációtudomány 5. Tagozat.

Digital Injection of Uncertainty: The influence of the Social Media on The Vaccination Hesitancy in The European Unio

Hallgató: Sidorina Ekaterina
Szak: Kommunikáció és Médiatudomány, Képzés típusa: ba, Intézmény: Budapesti Metropolitan Egyetem, Kar: Üzleti, Kommunikációs és Turisztikai Kar

Témavazető: Dr. Rétfalvi Györgyi PhD, - főiskolai tanár, Budapesti Metropolitan Egyetem Kommunikációs és Művészeti Kar

This work is meant to bring the awareness of the issues caused by social media regarding anti-vaccination trends in European Union and encourage a closer monitoring of such content in order to battle vaccine hesitancy.
The main questions of this research were the following:
1) Do social media platforms have an effect on vaccination hesitancy in EU?

2) What are the possible solutions for the anti-vaccination issues?

Qualitative research of this work consists of the analysis of different European countries based on the pre-existing research and analysis of the Hungarian social media platforms.
Italian YouTube studies show that anti-vaccination clips are more liked and shared. The analysis of Italian Twitter scene proves that the anti-vaccination community online can be very influential due to their build up.
Slovenian research concluded that the communicational and online activity of mothers grows proportionally to their concern level.
Video analysis focused on France has shown similar results.
In addition to that, my research focuses on the novel coronavirus vaccine hesitancy.
A study that concentrated on the representatives from 7 different European countries has shown that almost 74% would agree on the COVID-19 vaccine upon availability, around 19% were not sure, and approximately 7% would refuse.
Several Hungarian social media platforms, such as gyakorikerdesek.hu, Twitter and Instagram have been searched for the COVID-19 vaccination content.
Even though the study of Instagram and Twitter had shown rather positive dynamic, on gyakorikerdesek.hu the effects of negative influence of social media can be seen.
Primary quantitative research involved in this work is a questioner-based review of participants’ knowledge on the “anti” or “pro”- vaccination propaganda on social media and the effect this information has made on them.
Additionally, the opinion of medical experts on the potential solutions to the vaccination hesitancy have been collected.
The results show that the majority of EU residents’ representatives recognize the unreliability of the information on vaccination. The critical thinking of participants has allowed them to stay indifferent towards unprofessional opinions. People are more willing to turn to medical professionals and valid sources for the information.
Suggested solutions include more active engagement of the medical professionals on social media sites, active fact checking and clear communication of information regarding vaccination.