---
title: "Study: Social Media Users More Likely to Be Misinformed About Vaccines"
description: "Social media has made it easier than ever to effortlessly connect with friends, share photos, and rapidly propagate misinformation."
date: "2020-02-17"
modified: "2020-02-17"
authors:
  - name: "Jacob Banas"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jake"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/social-media-users-misinformed-vaccines"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "misinformation"
  - "social media"
  - "the digest"
  - "vaccines"
---

# Study: Social Media Users More Likely to Be Misinformed About Vaccines

![Social media has made it easier than ever to effortlessly connect with friends, share photos, and rapidly propagate misinformation.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/study-social-media-users-more-likely-misinformed-vaccines.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Air Force/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Going Viral

Right between the conspiracy theorists advocating for drinking bleach and your aunt on the airplane with the essential oils, vaccine misinformation has, in fact, found a home online. [A recent survey](<https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/users-of-social-media-more-likely-to-be-misinformed-about-vaccines/>) found 20% of Americans are likely to be misinformed about vaccinations—and that they were more likely to have found their misinformation online than not.

## Contagious

In 2019, the United States witnessed its [worst measles outbreak](<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/health/measles-outbreak.html>) in 25 years, even after being declared eliminated nationwide in 2000. This was the perfect time to track misinformation in real-time. Between the spring and fall of 2019, researchers [from UPenn's Annenberg Public Policy Center](<https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/vaccine-misinformation-social-media/>) launched two surveys that found that during that period 19% of the respondents' levels of vaccine misinformation changed in a substantive way - of those, 64% had become more misinformed. *Where* the information was found also mattered, as in: Those who found measles vaccine information on social media were [more likely](<https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/vaccine-misinformation-social-media/>) to be misinformed than those who sourced traditional media.

## Surprise, Surprise

The team behind the survey noted their results only show correlation – not causation. But as families lose loved ones after choosing [Facebook-sourced cures](<https://www.cbsnews.com/news/4-year-old-dies-from-flu-after-members-of-anti-vax-facebook-group-advise-his-mom-use-thyme-elderberries-instead/>), their findings [suggest](<https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/vaccine-misinformation-social-media/>) that “increasing the sheer amount of pro-vaccination content in media of all types may be of value over the longer term.” As [Facebook](<https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/04/health/facebook-vaccine-education-bn/index.html>), [Twitter](<https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/14/18623494/twitter-vaccine-misinformation-anti-vax-search-tool-instagram-facebook>), [Instagram](<https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48227377>), and [others](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/youtube-ads-anti-vaccination-videos>) all wrestle with misinformation on their platforms, the question remains: Will their actions alone be enough to give people the right information?

**READ MORE:** [Vaccine Misinformation and Social Media](<https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/vaccine-misinformation-social-media/>) \[Annenberg Public Policy Center\]

***More on Misinformation:*** [Google Is Trying to Teach Kids How to Spot Fake News](<https://futurism.com/google-teach-kids-spot-fake-news>)

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobjbanas/>)