Quinn Emma K, Duffy Robert T, Larsen Kristian, Dalton Maria, Peters Cheryl E
School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Department of Oncology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Saf Health Work. 2025 Mar;16(1):27-35. doi: 10.1016/j.shaw.2024.11.002. Epub 2024 Nov 14.
The SARS-CoV-2 viral outbreak has been conflicts with the past-tense narrative elsewhere in the abstract.; the infodemic. Misinformation about the virus and disease it causes (COVID-19) has been linked with authority-questioning beliefs, co-branding with conspiracies, and other misinformation across social media. Distrust in simple occupational and public health tools we have at our disposal (like well-fitting face masks) has proliferated. Despite attempts to curb the spread of untrue or misleading information on COVID-19, this messaging persists on social media.
Using a clean and cleared account, the 300 top posts under the hashtag #masksdontwork were collected on Instagram for thematic analysis over three weeks in June 2022, with three separate data collection dates. Themes contained in the posts were independently assessed by two coders and discrepancies were resolved by consensus.
The most dominant theme among posts was mistrust, including "government lies" and "media lies." Anti-masking rhetoric was the second most frequent theme, where "freedom" and "disbelief in data" were common sub-themes.
Science denial and propaganda shared among Instagram users may represent an onramp to consumption of broader conspiracy theories and government distrust, in addition to having negative health effects and social consequences for workers regardless of whether they wear masks. Social media algorithms promote similar misinformation or authority-questioning beliefs to users who view related content. Addressing the spread of health-related misinformation can assist in deconstructing myths and increasing trust in public health authorities and prevent the spread of communicable diseases among workers and the public.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）病毒爆发与摘要中其他地方的过去式叙述存在冲突；即信息疫情。关于该病毒及其引发的疾病（2019冠状病毒病）的错误信息与质疑权威的信念、与阴谋论的联合炒作以及社交媒体上的其他错误信息有关。对我们手头简单的职业和公共卫生工具（如贴合面部的口罩）的不信任已经扩散。尽管有人试图遏制关于2019冠状病毒病的不实或误导性信息的传播，但此类信息在社交媒体上依然存在。
使用一个清理干净的账号，于2022年6月的三周内，在照片墙（Instagram）上收集了话题标签#口罩无用下的300条热门帖子，用于主题分析，有三个独立的数据收集日期。帖子中包含的主题由两名编码员独立评估，差异通过协商解决。
帖子中最主要的主题是不信任，包括“政府说谎”和“媒体说谎”。反口罩言论是第二常见的主题，其中“自由”和“对数据的怀疑”是常见的子主题。
照片墙用户之间分享的科学否定和宣传内容，除了对无论是否戴口罩的工人产生负面健康影响和社会后果外，可能还代表着通向更广泛阴谋论消费和对政府不信任的一个入口。社交媒体算法向浏览相关内容的用户推送类似的错误信息或质疑权威的信念。解决与健康相关的错误信息的传播有助于解构谣言，增强对公共卫生当局的信任，并防止传染病在工人和公众中传播。
