It has now been a little over one month since Team 5 began exploring and researching podcasts. During which, I have been looking at the research, exchanging and discussing findings with fellow team members and listening to our chosen podcast. I recognise the value which podcasts bring to mobile learning and storytelling. In addition, there are little to no barriers to starting up a podcast therefore giving anyone a platform to share their opinions and thoughts. As well, I have discovered that podcasts have the ability to form communities of people with shared interests or views and podcasters have the ability to connect with their listeners and vice versa through social media.
Through my research, I have been exploring the spread of misinformation over podcasts with a focus on public health (PH) issues such as vaccines and the coronavirus. My topic was triggered by events from earlier this year. With the formation of these tight podcast communities, research shows that listeners will continue to have their opinions and views reinforced while avoiding information or messaging that counter their views (Del Vicario et al., 2016; Collier, 2018). I was curious to learn how PH can combat misinformation and what strategies could they apply to share their stories via podcasts?
In a podcast interview with Dr. Bauchner (2021), Dr. Merchant declared that misinformation is a public health crisis (20:32). Merchant et al. (2021) went on to express that PH needs to meet people where they are at by connecting with them through the information networks and devices they use on a daily basis. Research has suggested leveraging digital tools such as podcasts and other social media platforms to engage with the public by communicating key PH messages and interventions (Kass-Hout & Alhinnawi, 2013; Merchant et al., 2021. These new digital tools such as podcasts have been shown to disseminate information faster to communities vs. the traditional methods of television, newspaper or billboards.
From my research, I have discovered some mitigation strategies which PH can implement to combat misinformation. I particularly like the suggestion of partnering with trusted community influencers (podcasters) who can help with communicating key messages and correct misinformation among their listeners (Merchant, 2021). With these partnerships, PH can learn to construct messages more personalised to the unique needs of the community ensuring they will reach more people and be better received. I believe that leveraging podcasts’ ability to learn anytime, anywhere with public health’s desire to meet people where they are at has the potential to be another successful way to communicate key messaging to the public along with other social media platforms. I would like to continue researching for further examples of PH using this partnership to disseminate information to the public via social media/podcasts.
References
Bauchner, H. (Host). (2021, January 4). Public health messaging in an era of social media [Audio podcast episode]. In Conversations with Dr Bauchner. AMA Ed Hub. https://edhub.ama-assn.org/jn-learning/audio-player/18577488
Collier, R. (2018). Containing health myths in the age of viral misinformation. Cmaj, 190(19), E578-E578.
Del Vicario, M., Bessi, A., Zollo, F., Petroni, F., Scala, A., Caldarelli, G., Stanley, H.E., & Quattrociocchi, W. (2016). The spreading of misinformation online. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(3), 554-559.
Kass-Hout, T. A., & Alhinnawi, H. (2013). Social media in public health. British medical bulletin, 108(1).
Merchant, R. M., South, E. C., & Lurie, N. (2021). Public health messaging in an era of social media. Jama, 325(3), 223-224.
Rodriguez, L., Chan, J., Donahue, A., Pokiak, M., & Yee, G. (2022, April 15). Team 5’s venture into the World of Podcasts. Luis Rodriguez: A Student Blog | MALAT 2021-2023. https://malat-webspace.royalroads.ca/rru0216/team-5s-venture-into-the-world-of-podcasts/