Blog #2 – Info Community – Vaccine Hesitancy: A look at anti-vaccination communities

Vaccine Hesitancy: A look at anti-vaccination communities

Immunization public health policies have been overwhelmingly successful in preventing contagious diseases such as polio and smallpox in the developed world. Medical and scientific research validates the safety and efficacy of vaccinations. Despite scientific information and the success of public health policies, there are information communities that question the safety and necessity of childhood vaccinations. Anti-vaccination information communities are heterogeneous collections of individuals, primarily from the developed world, who have access to medical care and display strong concerns about vaccinations (Dube et al., 2013). The information needs and behaviors of these communities are complex and their attitudes toward vaccination hesitancy are exhibited in a wide spectrum of decisions regarding vaccination. Dube notes that vaccination attitudes are demonstrated “on a continuum” that ranges from the delay or avoidance of specific vaccines to the complete refusal of all vaccines (Dube et al., 2013, p. 1764).  

Healthcare professionals and scientific information are still frequently consulted as information sources by most individuals when making healthcare decisions. However, social media has also become an “essential source of information” (Dube et al., 2013, p. 1766) for making healthcare decisions. In particular, parents are looking more frequently at online information as a source in making decisions about healthcare for their children (Dube et al., 2013). Anti-vaccination communities primarily utilize social media platforms to seek information needed to make these health decisions for their children. In turn, these communities use social media to share both information and misinformation about vaccinations, as well as personal experiences related to vaccinations. My paper will focus on the online information seeking and sharing behaviors and needs of parents who are members of anti-vaccination communities in relation to the vaccination healthcare decisions they make regarding their children.

Online anti-vaccination groups can be considered information communities as outlined by Fisher and Durrance (2003). Anti-vaccination communities embody the characteristics of information communities through their use of emerging technology, in the form of social media platforms, to seek and share information. Social media platforms also provide a space for anti-vaccination communities to collaborate and communicate among diverse members. Online platforms break down barriers to information by providing a way for members to search for and have access to vaccine information and misinformation that they might not be able to find on other social media networks or through more traditional information sources, such as libraries. In addition, anti-vaccination social media sites offer access to the shared personal and anecdotal experiences of members. Dube notes that these shared experiences “add a new dimension to health information: a personal and embodied view of vaccine-preventable disease, vaccines and their potential (often negative) consequences.” (Dube et al., 2013, p. 1766). Personal experiences shared on social media sites have come to serve as an additional information source for anti-vaccination communities.  This information, in turn, helps shape and reinforce the communities’ negative views toward vaccination efficacy and safety. 

Another integral part of anti-vaccination communities is their ability to foster social connectedness. Feelings of social connection vary among members of these communities depending on their level of participation. Some members of these groups develop strong feelings of connection and community based on the perception of sharing similar views of the world (Narayan & Preljevic, 2017). In contrast, other members report that participation in anti-vaccination communities did not provide significant social support (Smith & Graham, 2019). However, even if a social connection is not established through online interactions, the act of exposure to similar shared beliefs may have a fortifying influence on the anti-vaccine views of members of those communities. Smith points out, “Simply participating in a community of like-minded others may reinforce anti-vaccination beliefs.” (Smith & Graham, 2019, p. 1323). 

While anti-vaccination communities are  “like-minded” in their questioning of vaccinations, they do not, for the most part, form along primordial or proximate factors as spelled out by Christen and Levinson’s (Fisher and Bishop, 2015).  The angles of information communities that are demonstrated in anti-vaccination communities are affinity and instrumental, or the desire to achieve shared goals. Anti-vaccination communities bring a complex and varied set of “emotional, cultural, social, spiritual and political factors as much as cognitive factors” (Dube et al., 2013, p. 1770) to their information seeking and sharing behaviors. However, the communities do share a unifying interest is the questioning of the efficacy and safety of vaccinations. This strong common interest plays out in a variety of goals that range from information sharing, influencing the behavior of other members of the communities and providing social support. Anti-vaccination communities also engage in goals within their local communities such as influencing legislation regarding vaccination public policy. 

Anti-vaccination information communities are complex and diverse. An exploration of their information behavior and information needs requires objectivity as well as compassion. In my next blog I will start to explore the information behaviors and needs of these communities as they relate to their common anti-vaccination interest and their online goals surrounding vaccine hesitancy.

 

References:

 

Dubé, E., & Laberge, C., & Guay, M., & Bramadat, P., & Roy, R.,  & Bettinger, J. A. (2013). Vaccine hesitancy; an overview. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 9(8), 1763-1773. DOI: 10.4161/hv.24657

 

Fisher, K.E. & Bishop, A.P. (2015). Information communities: Defining the focus of information service. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information services today (pp. 20-26). Retrieved from https://infocom.hyperlib.sjsu.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2018/08/Information_Services_Today_An_I ntroduction_-_3_Information_Communities.pdf 

 

Fisher, K., & Durrance, J. (2003). Information communities. In K. Christensen, & D. Levinson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of community: From the village to the virtual world (pp. 658- 661). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login? url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412952583.n248

 

Narayan, B., & Preljevic, M. (2017). An information behaviour approach to conspiracy theories: listening in on voices from within the vaccination debate. Information Research, 22(1), 1–16.

 

Smith, N., & Graham, T. (2019). Mapping the Anti-vaccination Movement on Facebook. Information, Communication and Society, 22(9) 1310-1327. Web. DOI:

10.1080/1369118X.2017.1418406 http://www-tandfonline-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/