Facebook and the Anti-Vaccination Movement
This article describes the rise of anti-vaccination groups on Facebook, which corresponds to a current outbreak of measles, a disease that had been previously eradicated in the US since 2000 because of the corresponding vaccine. The spread of false information and propaganda regarding the anti-vaccination movement is rampant throughout Facebook. Articles containing false or misleading information are spread through shares, likes, and links among friends and groups, direct messages, and suggestions by the Facebook algorithm. For example, Facebook recommends anti-vaccination groups to users that are new parents and are likely to interact with this particular content. Experts say that the anti-vaccination movement is a major public health threat, and areas with high rates of unvaccinated children have outbreaks of various diseases.
This article relates to the diffusion of information through social networks discussed in lecture, particularly the idea that your decisions and beliefs are based on who you are connected to. In this situation, the nodes are users and their friends on Facebook, and the decisions are either supporting or not supporting anti-vaccination. Through Facebook’s suggestions and algorithm, users are exposed to posts, articles, and groups supporting the anti-vaccination movement that they may not have been previously exposed to. Viewing these posts and articles may change users’ beliefs regarding vaccination, particularly if many of their friends, or groups they have joined, support anti-vaccination. This relates to the idea that events can directly change a user’s decision within the network. Users’ beliefs change particularly if they are exposed to many different groups of people who support anti-vaccination, and these users in turn will continue to spread the misinformation that changed their beliefs. This relates to the concept of a user changing their decision if they are connected to a “threshold” value of nodes supporting that decision.
Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/02/13/anti-vaxxers-are-spreading-conspiracy-theories-facebook-company-is-struggling-stop-them/?noredirect=on