Graduate students address coronavirus misinformation through social media organization

Rutgers graduate students have been combating misinformation about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) through the formation of NJ Students Educating Against COVID-19 (NJ S.E.A.C.), a volunteer-based organization that aims to share pandemic information in a concise and engaging way with the general public.

Brandi Peacock, president of the organization and a graduate student in the Master of Biomedical Sciences program, said NJ S.E.A.C.’s goal is to convey accurate information in a way that is easy for young adults to digest by posting infographics and memes on social media.

“Since we are in unprecedented times, in unprecedented waters, the constant changing of information leaves us all feeling confused,” she said. “By using the language of mainstream social media that is vetted for accuracy, we strive to be a source for other millennials to find readily accessible and easy to interpret organizers to continuously spread the most up to date COVID-19 related information.”

During the pandemic, Peacock said, misinformation became a significant issue due to people trusting non-accredited sources and believing what they saw on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“Trusting sources that have not been accredited and buying into what is being shared on these popular social media networks is what has given leeway to a lot of the misinformation that is being spread throughout a wide range of different age groups,” she said. 

Peacock said a large percentage of young adults in particular are at risk of consuming misinformation and spreading COVID-19 as a result at parties, concerts and classrooms. Between colleges and graduate schools, she said this age group is affected the most by COVID-19.

She said that after learning about the lasting impact of misinformation and rapidly changing relevant information in conversation with her mentor Marc Neff, a physician at Jefferson Health, she came up with the idea for NJ S.E.A.C. and approached some of her classmates from science backgrounds in January about forming the organization. On March 17, NJ S.E.A.C. launched its Instagram and Facebook pages.

In order to make the newest relevant pandemic information more accessible, Peacock said NJ S.E.A.C. arranges facts from accredited sources and physicians in a way that people with no background in science can understand easily.

“When we take an article to make an infographic (we) look for the main points: ‘who, what, where and why,’” she said. “We also try to keep our posts one page in length, no huge paragraph(s) and everything colorful and in uniform.”

Peacock said NJ S.E.A.C. recently became a registered limited liability company, becoming Students Educating Against COVID-19 (SEAC) L.L.C. The organization also plans to submit an abstract to the Consortium of Universities for Global Health about its progress so far to expand beyond fighting misinformation for COVID-19 alone.

In addition, NJ S.E.A.C. aims to bring in volunteers from around the world to provide easy access to COVID-19 information for other countries as well, Peacock said. So far, the team has a few international members from Canada and India.

Ultimately, the organization hopes to impact the greatest number of people possible through dismantling misinformation and maintaining public health measures, Peacock said. 

“The most important thing we want our public to know about NJ S.E.A.C. is that we are dedicated to the cause for the wellness of ourselves and of others,” she said. “It is so important as the future health professionals of the world, not just the country, that we play our part in this global pandemic by any means that we can.”