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/
Hi Gail,
Thanks so much for the update. Your focus for your project is brilliant and so timely! I love that you have identified ways that podcasts may be utilized to spread accurate and relevant PH information. As the polarization of our society continues, it is critical to imagine the possibilities that technology brings to bring people back together again. I am looking forward to hearing more about your research and focus!
Amber
Hi Gail,
I found your team’s presentation on podcasts fascinating and I gained an appreciation for how podcasts can be implemented within each of your unique contexts.
I agree with you, the mediums used by public health to communicate with people need to be modern technologies that they are actually using. As you suggest, perhaps more effective than traditional mediums that are no longer primary sources of information.
The mitigation strategies to misinformation you mention align with Mike Caulfield’s approach where he suggests that to combat misinformation, we need to flood the Internet with good, quality information (Caulfield, 2017).
As you mention though, consumers of information are seemingly drawn to views and platforms that reinforce their existing beliefs and that is challenging!
In your research have you encountered data about groups/demographics of those more susceptible to being duped by misinformation?
Reference
Caulfield, M. (October 23, 2017). Info-Environmentalism: An Introduction https://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/10/info-environmentalism-an-introduction
Hi Melissa,
Thank you for your comments. Great question but, unfortunately, I have not encountered data about groups/demographics which are more susceptible to being duped by misinformation. Although I did come across one article by Riddell et al. (2020) who explore “processes by which podcasts are weighed, valued and judged relative to one another, and relative to other learning modalities.” Trust in the source and congruence of content were 2 of the 4 themes which emerged from their study and support what you and I have in connection with our research about misinformation: credibility of the source and the alignment of the content with the user’s existing knowledge. Thanks,
Reference
Riddell,J.C.,Robins,L.,Lin,M.,Sherbino,J.,& Ilgen,J.(2020).1EMF Hearing Is Believing: A Qualitative Exploration of Trust and Credibility Judgements in Educational Podcasts. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 76(4), S1.
Hi Gail!
I think you have focused your inquiry on a very critical and relevant issue regarding misinformation around vaccines and the coronavirus through podcasts. I have listened to a few podcasts and am guilty of falling to believing information from a source that is not totally liable as it confirms my own biases or is shared from a person whom I have perceived as reliable. As my team explores TikTok for our inquiry project we are also running into the challenge of misinformation and confirmation biases. TikTok currently does not have any restrictions that limit who can share what, which has led to people sharing their opinions as fact. Have you come across anything in your research on Podcasts that restricts who can share what information? I’d be curious to know how sites that are producing podcasts have filtered what information is shared? Do they have strategies to ensure the accuracy of information? If they have applied strategies could these be used on other streaming platforms and social media apps?
I think that the mitigation strategy you have mentioned about public health is powerful. Working with influences to share accurate information regarding public health in a way that is relatable to the audience is a great strategy to pump out positive accurate information. Have you encountered the opposite happening in your research? Where an influencer has partnered with a company that is not reliable and used their popularity to push the company’s agenda?
I look forward to seeing your final research! Thanks for sharing!
Hi London,
Thank you for your comments. I have not found anything in my research on podcasts that restricts what podcasters share. Although, Spotify’s response to the recent Joe Rogan controversy was slapping content warnings on podcast episodes discussing COVID-19, and deleting approximately 70+ podcast episodes of the “The Joe Rogan Experience” (Reeder, 2022). The response came from a signed open letter from medical professionals and some musicians pulling content from Spotify because of misinformation.
When I started researching, I came across Wirtschafter’s (2021) article, which shared some of the challenges of the spread of misinformation via podcasts. Podcasts are different medium and unlike Twitter and Facebook, content is published but the audience can’t respond right away or in real time (para. 6). So, if the information is inaccurate, a podcast episode can’t be corrected immediately. Another challenge is the nature of the medium. In order to analyze the content, the podcast episode has to be transcribed which can be expensive and finding the misinformation in the transcribed text can be difficult (para. 7).
In response to your last question, I haven’t encountered the opposite type of partnership you suggest. However, I think that there are some similarities/parallels with the Spotify controversy. Happy to discuss further. Thanks.
References
Reeder, M. (2022, February 14). Ask an expert: Oksana Shkurska deciphers Spotify CEO’s response to Joe Rogan controversy. Dal News.https://www.dal.ca/news/2022/02/14/joe-rogan-spotify-invermectin.html
Wirtschafter, V. (2021, August 25). The challenge of detecting misinformation in podcasting. The
Brookings Institution. Tech Stream. https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/the-challenge-of-detecting-misinformation-in-podc
asting/