Monkey pox disease: An Instagram analysis in disseminating accurate
information.
Abstract
In 2022, Monkey pox disease was declared as a Global Health Emergency.
With the emergence of an epidemic such as this, it becomes imperative
that accurate information is imparted to all the individuals. However,
as seen in the case of Covid-19 pandemic, it is evident that people
consume most of the information through social media platforms such as
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and others. With this, there is a
possibility of an increase in dissemination of misinformation which was
very well noted in case of Covid-19 Pandemic. Aims: To analyse the
information that is available on Instagram regarding Monkey Pox disease
and to determine its accuracy. Methodology: A cross-sectional,
observational type of study where total of 522 posts were analysed over
a period of two days was done. Top 90 posts from the top six monkey pox
related hashtags were analysed on the basis of a proforma made of
pre-selected questions via the platform google docs and accordingly the
results were calculated. Results showed that, most of the posts are
descriptive in nature, and only a few(11.65%) were posted by doctors.
Most of them were posted by news or other agencies. Some of the posts
were from unverified sources as well(27.65%). Discussion: As witnessed
in Covid 19, there is prevalent misinformation when a global health
emergency is concerned, attributed to vast access to social media
platforms. In order to combat this dissemination of false information,
such platforms should be regulated and should operate under guidelines
of WHO.