New research suggests social media can be used to encourage adolescents to follow social distancing guidelines. Investigators discovered social distancing guidance is more effective when adolescents are allowed to develop and deliver their own campaigns.
If a peer social influencer delivers the message, attitudes around the importance of social distancing may change. The research is timely, as many adolescents are choosing to ignore the guidelines set out by governments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new study suggests peer-to-peer campaigns are likely to be more successful in changing attitudes. “For many people, adolescence — between the ages of 10 and 24 — is when you want to be making more social connections, not losing them.
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