Health Communication Professor: In Current Crisis, Social Media a Mixed Bag
The global crisis of COVID-19 has put increased emphasis on the ways individuals and organizations alike disseminate key information, and according to Associate Professor Stephen Quigley, social media has been a bellwether of the times.
“It brings out the best in us,” he recently told the Boston Herald, noting that it’s also “bringing out the very worst in us.”
On the one hand, “People [are] going out of their way to express their concern and affection and love for others,” he said. On the other hand, “The more fear and anxiety out there, the more those qualities feed on themselves and the more opportunities for misinformation and hatred and fear to spread.”
Professor Quigley co-founded and co-directed BU MET’s Master of Science in Health Communication program, which is a collaborative effort between MET and BU’s College of Communication. The multidisciplinary program focuses on the intersection of healthcare, marketing, health literacy, public relations, and digital media in order to prepare students for the breadth of issues they will encounter as health communicators.
Read more from Professor Quigley in the Boston Herald.