How Social Media Shapes the Way We Parent: What’s True and What’s Not

The beauty of social media is that anyone can share their experience, their beliefs and their opinions with the world. That is powerful when we see how user-generated content has been spread across the world to create public awareness on various issues. Think of the #MeToo Movement, which gave a voice to people who had been subjected to sexual harassment. I do believe that social media has a role to play in influencing public opinion and exposing negative situations. I am also aware of the damage that an opinion or some sensational statement can have on real facts. There is collateral damage to this. I never want to see the health of a child be that kind of collateral because of misinformation. My greatest concern is the damage that is being done by misinformation on the vaccine programmes.

How social media works

I am not sure if everyone is aware of how social media works and the reasons behind its powerful ability to spread both facts and really harmful information. I have learnt in my own personal research that social media is a science. It is not just about me sharing happy, family photos or searching for information on a topic of interest. It is a powerful tool that can very easily influence the way we think and, sadly, feed us myths that stem from a handful of individuals.

If you, yourself, have Googled “are vaccinations safe for my baby?”, you have set in motion a series of algorithms. What does this mean?

• This means that social media does a calculation, and within seconds, you will be fed posts. The posts have not been fact-checked, but are rather posts that got the most clicks.
• Studies done show that YouTube recommendations and videos are more likely to lead people to extremist content (Kozyreva et al., 2020, p. 115). This is not what you want when you are trying to make informed decisions around vaccinations.
• Another 2021 study looked into Facebook and how its algorithms work. In 2018, Facebook had declining engagement. As a result, they changed their algorithm so that sensational misinformation would go viral at a much higher rate than before (Hagey & Horwitz, 2021).
• Given the data from the studies, we can see how one of the posts that you read or interact with can affect your search. If it contains any false information, the platform will go and find a multitude of similar posts and bombard you with lies. Instead of there being some kind of safety net to show you different, proven facts, it will push you deeper and deeper into “a rabbit hole” of misinformation. 

How and why does misinformation get spread?

Something that has shocked me is learning about the “Disinformation Dozen”. I don’t suppose you know about them either?

• In 2021, the Centre for Countering Digital Hate was tasked with establishing who was behind the massive surge of anti-vaccine content on social media. What they found is that this major controversy was caused by just 12 individuals. These 12 individuals were not concerned about parents wanting to find out more about vaccinations. Instead, they were 12 individuals who only cared about the traffic that was being drawn to their own personal websites. The misinformation was sensational and got millions of views and shares across the world. These 12 individuals did not care about the collateral damage to children; they only cared about their popularity.

In truth, the misinformation they were sharing was nothing new. It was old, fake news, packaged and sold to new concerned parents. Again in 2025, we see a surge in the questioning of vaccine safety. The myths have again raised their heads. If only we could get the truth out to the public that the debate is nothing new. The same disputes were raging over 100 years ago! In the last 100 years, the truth about vaccine effectiveness has been proven over and over again. Millions of children have been protected from diseases that could have devastated their lives and caused countless deaths. 

How have these myths affected our children?

Due to misinformation and unsubstantiated claims being made, many parents have shied away from vaccinations. I am not going to describe the diseases, as you can investigate these separately, but I want to highlight the effect of vaccine hesitancy. This is just some of what we are currently seeing in various countries around the world.

Measles: 44 outbreaks have been reported in the United States in 2025. By comparison, there were only 16 outbreaks in 2024. Australia was declared measles-free more than a decade ago. As of 7 October 2025, there have been 133 cases this year alone. This puts the entire population at risk. Experts blame the international anti-vaccination movement for spreading misinformation and wild, unsubstantiated claims.

Pertussis (Whooping cough): Around the world, there has been a surge in cases. This is primarily due to missed opportunities for vaccinations. Babies generally receive this vaccine at 6, 10 and 14 weeks. This leaves them open to infection before they are 6 weeks old. The vaccine can be given to a pregnant woman so that her baby can have immunity to the disease until it is old enough to get the vaccine itself. Statistics show that when the vaccine is given to pregnant women, it reduces the rate of hospitalisation of infected babies by 90% and the rate of death by 95%. Sadly, babies that are too young to receive the vaccine themselves are dying from this illness because their mothers were afraid to have the vaccine during the pregnancy. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), more than five times as many cases of pertussis were reported in 2024 as in 2023.

Meningitis: Across Africa, there has also been a spike in meningitis cases, especially amongst young adults. Meningitis can affect anyone at any time, but teenagers and young people are more likely to carry the bacteria that cause meningitis. The bacteria live at the back of the throat. One in four teenagers and young adults in this age group carries the meningitis-causing bacteria. In other age groups, it is only 1 in 10.  Imagine that you send your bright young teen off to 1st year University. The world is their oyster, and then illness strikes. First-year university students are most at risk for meningitis. Young people coming together from all over the country, moving into residences and attending very full lectures, are factors which contribute to the illness being easily spread.

Head and neck cancer: Most of us have become familiar with the fact that the HPV vaccine protects against cervical cancer. What I don’t think people commonly know is that Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is also responsible for head, neck and throat cancer. 70% of oropharyngeal cancer (space behind the mouth) is caused by this virus. Head and neck units in South Africa are reporting a substantial increase in the number of teenagers and young adults with this type of cancer. It is avoidable with the vaccine.

Conclusion

We are constantly being bombarded with information that can be extremely confusing. What we need to know is that a share on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter does not constitute fact. In most cases, you don’t even know the source, yet it has the power to affect your decisions. By contrast, the medical fraternity takes years to research accusations. What I would advise is not hitting the share button of something that sounds sensational. A single click can send misinformation to around 70 million people in a single day. Take time, research the facts and speak to professionals that you trust with every other aspect of your child’s health.  

References:

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12174787/
• https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/rfk-jr-hhs-vaccine-policy-preventable-infectious-diseases-resurge/
• https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-evidence-on-vaccines-and-autism
• https://library.queens.edu/misinformation-on-social-media/algorithms
• https://cancerblog.mayoclinic.org/2024/04/11/hpv-related-head-and-neck-cancer-treatment-is-improving-but-prevention-is-best/
• https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/vaccine-misinformation-outpaces-efforts-counter-it