Maris Robbie, Dorner Zack, Hess Stephane, Tucker Steven
Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, University College London, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL, United Kingdom, 44 2076792000.
Department of Environmental Management, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand.
JMIR Infodemiology. 2025 May 28;5:e66081. doi: 10.2196/66081.
Vaccine information and misinformation are spread through social media in ways that may vary by platform. Understanding the role social media plays in shaping vaccine preferences is crucial for policymakers and researchers.
This study aims to test whether social media use is associated with changes in vaccine preferences during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, and whether trust in sources of information has a moderating role.
Our data consist of a balanced panel of 257 web-based respondents in New Zealand in August 2020, October-November 2020, and March-April 2021. We use a novel approach with stated choice panel data to study transitions between different vaccine preference groups. We analyze the associations between these transitions and social media use. We classify respondents as resistant (never chose a vaccine), hesitant (chose a vaccine between 1 and 5 times), and provaccine (chose a vaccine 6 out of 6 times) in each wave of data.
We found a positive or neutral association between social media use and vaccine uptake. Facebook, Twitter (pre-2022), and TikTok users who are provaccine are less likely to become hesitant or resistant. Facebook and Instagram users who are hesitant are more likely to become pro. Some social media platforms may have a more positive association with vaccine uptake preferences for those who do not trust the government.
The paper contributes to the wider literature, which shows social media can be associated with reinforcing both pro and antivaccination sentiment, and these results depend on where individuals get their information from and their trust in such sources.
疫苗信息和错误信息通过社交媒体传播的方式可能因平台而异。了解社交媒体在塑造疫苗偏好方面所起的作用对政策制定者和研究人员至关重要。
本研究旨在测试在新西兰新冠疫情期间，社交媒体的使用是否与疫苗偏好的变化相关，以及对信息来源的信任是否具有调节作用。
我们的数据由2020年8月、2020年10月至11月以及2021年3月至4月期间新西兰257名网络受访者组成的平衡面板数据构成。我们采用一种新颖的方法，利用陈述性选择面板数据来研究不同疫苗偏好群体之间的转变。我们分析这些转变与社交媒体使用之间的关联。在每一波数据中，我们将受访者分为抗拒者（从未选择过疫苗）、犹豫者（选择过1至5次疫苗）和支持疫苗者（6次中有6次选择了疫苗）。
我们发现社交媒体使用与疫苗接种之间存在正相关或中性关联。支持疫苗的Facebook、Twitter（2022年前）和TikTok用户不太可能变得犹豫或抗拒。犹豫的Facebook和Instagram用户更有可能变得支持疫苗。对于那些不信任政府的人来说，一些社交媒体平台可能与疫苗接种偏好有更积极的关联。
本文为更广泛的文献做出了贡献，该文献表明社交媒体可能与强化支持和反对疫苗接种的情绪都有关联，而这些结果取决于个人从何处获取信息以及他们对这些信息来源的信任程度。
