When in Memeland, Speak in Memes: Contributions of Design Towards the Betterment of Online Behavior Regarding Public Health

This research tackles a current tendency towards scientific mistrust among segments of the population: we posit that channels traditionally employed by scientists and policy-makers may not be sufficient to reach skeptical individuals and communities, as exponentially and pervasively evident in social media circles. We thus propose to explore informal online channels and formats such as memes, short videos, and forums, where the involved demographics tend to obtain information they deem reliable and relatable: in fact, formal channels of scientific communication are often regarded by skeptics as authoritarian and driven by obscure agendas. In this research, we focus on health policy behavior as a locus of conflict in recent years due to the pandemic, with Portugal as a case study. Informed by both online field work and in-person interviews with health policy skeptics, the project has so far produced a collection of visual artifacts for social media circulation. Validated specimens aim to become templates for the adoption of health policies.