In the current digital information age, it is not difficult for news items to spread at breakneck speed, causing confusion for the community. Verifying accurate and quality information has never been more necessary than now, when the epidemic is returning. Let’s take a look at the reasons why medical misinformation is so contagious and how to know the reliability of any medical information.
Why do medical misinformation spread so quickly?
The spread of false information on the internet is not a new phenomenon, but with the emergence of the epidemic, false information has the opportunity to spread more widely because it is a hot issue. interested in the whole society.
An inevitable reason that no one can deny is that the speed of updating information of traditional media such as newspapers, news and current affairs on TV is much slower than information shared on the Internet. Social Network. In addition, official news sites need time to learn, research and verify false information before releasing it. During that time, so many fake news were born and spread to many people.
Since the appearance of case 416, fake information about the disease has also spread rapidly
People who receive and share information often just want to interact with what they want to read, suitable for themselves without taking the time to verify. For example, in the case of the United States, although medical experts make great efforts to advise and notify people to take safety measures, some people still ignore them. Instead, they read and share false information about the effectiveness of masks (no need to wear masks when there is an epidemic, so that the body can actively self-immune) to strengthen the belief that what they are doing. that right.
A study in the US published in 2020 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the more information we receive, whether true or false, our vigilance ability. people decrease. Initially, the study subjects were given tips on how to sift through information, and they did this very effectively. However, later on, the alertness level of the study subjects gradually decreased, because the brain needed to relax and thereby neglect, even forget the learned tips.
In general, subjective psychology and a sense of community are what determine the popularity and spread of any information. Therefore, always maintaining a vigilant mentality and only receiving information from official sources is what everyone needs to do to prevent false information from spreading.
How to determine the accuracy of medical information?
Check the same information from different sources
When reporting health news, you choose reputable sources from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Ministry of Health or choose different newspapers that talk about the same information. believe that. When you take the time to do this, you will be sure to have accurate information about the epidemic situation.
When there is a new medical information, you should update from a variety of sources
Read comments
Currently, the comment feature is always available on social networks and most electronic newspapers. If you read a lot of negative comments about that information, it’s likely that its reliability is low and vice versa. A medical report can also open a forum for debate in this comment section. Sometimes you may come across some expert opinions. Therefore, looking after comments is also a job to check the reliability of information. However, make sure that this does not affect your life too much because with hot issues, reading comments also takes a lot of time.
Check out the comments under each news to get more opinions from many people on a hot issue
Find out the purpose of posting
Selling online is a new and popular business trend today. Therefore, many people will take advantage of sensational information to attract many people with links and information regardless of right or wrong, as long as the title makes people want to see and hit the right psychological.
In stark contrast to reputable information sites, their main purpose is to provide the most accurate and useful information possible. Title is also an important part for you to determine the accuracy of medical information, with the title “quote” or somewhat unbelievable, you should limit reading and sharing.
Don’t read news on social media
There is no shortage of reputable online newspapers and websites for you to refer to. Therefore, there is no reason for you to access unknown information created by the online community. In particular, it is a good idea to update information about the epidemic quickly on the government’s website.
Calmness, psychological stability, no panic, excessive worry and application of preventive measures are things to do at this time. In order to effectively repel the epidemic, let’s join hands to share useful, official information and do not spread information that you have not verified.
In addition, to be able to update other useful information about the disease situation, resistance exercises or nutritional foods to increase resistance, please visit the website www.leep.app or Download easyhealthylive.com here.
Reference source
Learn to spot fake health news with these 5 tips https://www.healthline.com/health-news/learn-to-spot-fake-health-news-with-these-5-tips Accessed: 31/07 2020
John Alen was born in 1971 and is a doctor in the healthcare and psychology fields with many years of experience. He is currently working at easyhealthylive.com, a leading health and psychology blog. Having studied at Y1 National Medical University named after IM Sechenov, John Alen is using his knowledge and experience to help improve the physical and mental health of people in the United States.
