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IMAGE: Two of the four simulated tweets used in the study show the two types of messages, and two simulated messengers. The other two tweets in the study switched the messages. view more
Credit: University of Michigan
Anyone who s on social media right now has probably seen them: Passionate pleas from health care workers, asking for the public to realize how bad the COVID-19 pandemic has gotten, and urging them to take steps to slow the spread of coronavirus.
But do these first-person posts from the heart actually have any effect?
A new study suggests so.
A personal appeal from an emergency physician, asking for the public s help based on something they ve experienced, carries more weight with a general audience than an appeal from a federal official that says the same thing in an impersonal way, the randomized online study finds. It also outpaced a more straightforward message from the same doctor.