Who are Physicians Talking to on Social Media? Data Literacy and Visual Literacy of the Assumed Audience(s) of COVID-19 Vaccination Posts

Objectives

The presentation will focus on the partial results of a project on the effectiveness of social media (SM) posts by medical experts to encourage people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 that I conducted within the “New Ideas” grant, no. 622-62/2021, financed by the University of Warsaw. In this presentation I will demonstrate how the authors of the posts used scientific data to present visualizations and cite sources of information they used. I conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the material and the results are discussed within the perspective of the data literacy and visual literacy dimensions of the assumed audience. Data literacy is defined as “a suite of data acquisition-, evaluation-, handling-, analysis- and interpretation-related competencies” (Prado & Marzal, 2013, p. 124), while “visual literacy” as “a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media “ (ACRL 2022).

Methodology

The project involved the triangulation of research methods and was implemented in three stages:

  1. Mapping experts (physicians) active in SM and aggregating their posts on vaccinations;
  2. Analysis and typology of posts in terms of content and form; and,
  3. Experiments using surveys, eye tracking, and face tracking measurements.

Mypresentation will focus on the partial results of stages 1 and 2. Thus, I will answering RQ1. How, in terms of form and content,are the physicians’ messages on vaccination against COVID-19 in social media structured? The sample selection was purposive: I selected posts in Polish by doctors in 2021 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter containing the key term “vaccination” or “vaccine” used in the context of COVID-19. Following these criteria, the sample consisted of 220 posts from 49 medical doctors.

I examined the collected posts using a content analysis technique with narrative and rhetorical analysis elements in a codebook of 53 categories. During my presentation I will show the results obtained for the following categories:

  • visuals included in the posts (photos, infographics, videos, memes, and others);
  • quoted data and its source(s);
  • quoted statements and theirs source(s),
  • linked profiles; and
  • external links.

Outcomes
The study enabled conclusions to be drawn, to some extent, regarding the projected audience of health content on social media in Poland. I used the analysis of the collected data, juxtaposed with the literature, to determine the level of digital literacy that the audience should be able to find, properly decode, and interpret. In particular, I defined the dimensions of digital literacy to encompass visual literacy and data literacy.

References

  • Association of College & Research Libraries. (2022). The framework for visual literacy in higher education approved by the ACRL Board of Directors. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/Framework_Companion_Visual_Literacy.pdf
  • Calzada-Prado, F. J., & Marzal, M.A. (2013). Incorporating data literacy into information literacy programs: core competencies and contents. Libri, 63(2), 123–134.

Karolina Brylska
University of Warsaw, Poland

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