“How can I keep quiet?” Motivations to participate in vaccination communication on Facebook

Abstract: Risk and crisis communication (RCC) is a complex constellation of multiple actors, platforms, and voices. It involves institutional actors but also laypeople. Participation by social media users can both facilitate and obstruct effective RCC. The present study draws on in-depth interviews with Swedish Facebook users, and explores motivational factors for lay participation in RCC in the context of vaccination utilizing Peter Dahlgren’s (2011) model. The contributions of this study are threefold. First, it identifies three dominant clusters of participation motivations: personal interest, information brokerage, and persuasion. Second, the results show that Facebook sociality is characterized by asynchronous communication, loops, and widespread hostility. Third, degrees of content visibility set up “zones of peace” (backstage, safe communication spaces) and “zones of fight” (frontstage, open sub-arenas where various views on vaccination are debated). Moreover, the study finds that these forms of sociality and levels of visibility can both strengthen and undermine user motivations.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: “How can I keep quiet?” Motivations to participate in vaccination communication on Facebook ; volume:48 ; number:4 ; year:2023 ; pages:482-501 ; extent:20 ; Communications ; 48, Heft 4 (2023), 482-501 (gesamt 20)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Rodin, Pavel

Further information

• DOI: 10.1515/commun-2021-0081
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023110813033464668526
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:59 AM CEST