This is a good article. I have a lot of thoughts about anti-vaxxers, as a committed fan of vaccinations who spent a lot of time in online parenting communities back in the early 2000s (when my kids were little). - ThreadSky

naomikritzer.bsky.social • 7 days ago

This is a good article. I have a lot of thoughts about anti-vaxxers, as a committed fan of vaccinations who spent a lot of time in online parenting communities back in the early 2000s (when my kids were little).

Reposted from Liz Szabo

Formerly anti-vax parents on how they changed their minds: ‘I really made a mistake’

www.theguardian.com/global/2025/...

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naomikritzer.bsky.social•7 days ago

In the online communities that I posted in, there were always a set of Overton Windows specific to the community where some beliefs were dominant, some were acceptable, and some were stigmatized.

naomikritzer.bsky.social•7 days ago

And the thing about parenting is, there's A LOT you have to learn very quickly because you and your partner are responsible for a tiny, helpless human in a society where most of us get very little direct support or even emotional validation for this extremely hard job (parenting a newborn is HARD).

naomikritzer.bsky.social•7 days ago

People tended to find communities in different ways and it was very easy when you encountered a new idea that was accepted or dominant to think "well, these are nice people, maybe they're right about this?"

That is not always a bad thing!

naomikritzer.bsky.social•7 days ago

For example, in the communities I participated in, one of the very firm collective ideas was, "spanking, and hitting kids generally, is NOT OK. Kids have a right not to get hit." There were people who arrived at parenting having been hit by their parents growing up, who had never considered

naomikritzer.bsky.social•7 days ago

alternate forms of discipline, who got to the community, saw how stigmatized spanking was, and worked out other options because they'd taken the community beliefs to heart. The "take on certain ideas to fit in with a community" thing is POWERFUL.

naomikritzer.bsky.social•7 days ago

BUT. This was also how some people became antivaxxers.

tamidon.bsky.social•7 days ago

It also lays out how so many people get sucked into these whackadoo kinds of things, starting with good intentions

mcmlxi.org•7 days ago

Like many, I rolled up my sleeves and got the virus.shot, then the boosters.

Why? So I wouldn't catch it?

No, am pretty healthy. Haven't seen a doctor in decades.

The motivation was to pitch in and be a good citizen.

Told that first nurse, "Last time I saw a needle was iin basic training."

crof.bsky.social•7 days ago

As a polio survivor, I remain baffled by anti-vax sentiment: https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2018/11/01/Polio-Vaccination-Lessons/

naomikritzer.bsky.social•7 days ago

Yeah. The collective memory (or lack thereof) is such a huge piece of this. My father was a Polio Pioneer: his parents were 100% ready to stand in line for an experimental vaccine for him because polio was so scary.

bexone.bsky.social•7 days ago

My Nana took her 3 daughters to get both the Salk and the Sabin because she was not taking even the slightest chance

librarianjenne.bsky.social•7 days ago

I am so sorry you have to watch this happen.

crosis101.bsky.social•7 days ago

Anti-vaxxers kill children.

austinhippiechick.bsky.social•7 days ago

The latest from the anti-vaxer Jenny McCarthy Body Count site: https://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com/

austinhippiechick.bsky.social•7 days ago

Thanks to anti-vax a-holes, Mayo Clinic is giving seniors like me childhood vaccinations like MMR, because herd immunity is going away. People my age remember the polio survivors at school & how hard it was for them to get around. We were grateful vaccinations saved us from polio & smallpox.

naomikritzer.bsky.social•7 days ago

I mean the thing about the MMR is that everyone should get two doses, and they didn't realize that back when they first rolled it out. You are actually doing your part for herd immunity by getting that second dose.

austinhippiechick.bsky.social•7 days ago

I hope so. If I can lead by example, so much the better. I allowed my lumpectomy to be filmed for teaching purposes, & assented to residents observing my surgery. I support legit science education whenever I can. Plus surgeons have big egos & want to perform well in front of witnesses.

canadianorc.bsky.social•7 days ago

They're learning fafo has consequences

harperiswriting.bsky.social•7 days ago

I think it's really really important work to look at how people get pulled out of harmful beliefs like this. It's easy to write people off as being unable to be convinced, but if we're all living in the same world, I want to live in a world where where my neighbor changed their mind about 1/2

harperiswriting.bsky.social•7 days ago

Vaccinating their kid than a world where they get pushed further and further into conspiratorial thinking and pseudoscience. The problem is it's hard work and sometimes you do have to protect yourself. 2/2

rrhd.bsky.social•7 days ago

A lot of Americans have good reason to mistrust our medical system, people of color who are systematically mistreated, women who are disbelieved by doctors and whose pain is under treated, etc. one way to improve vaccination rates would be to improve our healthcare system and communication.

rrhd.bsky.social•7 days ago

This was my favorite bit of the article: “Feeling brushed off by doctors left them seeking answers elsewhere, like online communities that stoked their doubts.”

darksapiens.bsky.social•7 days ago

📌

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