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If unfiltered musings from experts in different specialities debating the AstraZeneca vaccine are making you anxious, here are some tips—a short thread.
1. Remember: each of the players is speaking from their own narrow range of expertise, which leads to a correspondingly narrow perspective. They will see things differently and value different things than each other (e.g., math vs. individual risk vs. collective risk).
2. The kinds of debates you& #39;re seeing in public are totally normal in science. They& #39;re just usually not public. These debates are how scientific knowledge is made and remade, especially in new or quickly changing situations (like COVID-19). It can be unsettling but it& #39;s normal.
3. The unfiltered musings are just that: unfiltered. Tweets are not subject to expert peer review. This is good and bad. You can see incredibly smart people thinking out loud at a time when things are scary and confusing but remember that you& #39;re not always their target audience.
3 cont. We communicate differently depending on who we& #39;re speaking to. These experts are often speaking to people they assume share their expertise, values, and priorities. If yours differ, then you& #39;re not their target audience and their statements will land differently.
4. Clout is an issue on social media. Some people will try to get it. Even scientists. Remember: it& #39;s not always just about facts. Facts only exist in social context.
5. If one or more commentators consistently make you anxious, mute them! There& #39;s enough chatter going on that you won& #39;t lose anything important by missing that one person& #39;s fiery hot takes.
6. Find trusted science communicators to help you put all the noise in context. Scientists are awesome but they& #39;re experts in *science,* not (usually) experts in communication or ethics or history or all the other social stuff that is relevant to a pandemic.
There are other tips too but my beloved has made me Mother& #39;s Day pancake while my ungrateful teen sleeps so let me know what tips you would add to this list!
Here& #39;s an excellent example of nuanced, thoughtful, and accessible public communication about AZ concerns from @MPaiMD (with a nod to the wonderful scientist and science communicator, @heysciencesam). https://twitter.com/MPaiMD/status/1391566674336362497?s=20">https://twitter.com/MPaiMD/st...
