What about those anti-vaxxers?
How many of you have actively participated in online communities? What does your ideal community look like? Would you rather have uniformity or subgroups in your community? I don’t know about most people, but I don’t mind a little conflict and squabbling in my community because that’s where all the drama and fun is. This is why my online community is the perfect community for me because there’s plenty of back and forth between the anti-vaxxers and the curious followers.
Uniformity? Eh, sometimes..
The name of my community on Quora is “Anti Vaccine Movement”, and for their logo they have a picture of a needle with a big red “no” symbol slapped on top of it. Based on this you would think that the majority of the community were anti-vax or somewhere along those lines right? Nope, this group has plenty of followers who are either in complete awe of the anti-vax lifestyle and want real answers or they’re simply looking for a debate with an anti-vaxxer so they post derogatory questions and comments. Even though these two subgroups are in the community for different intentions, they tend to ask questions that tap into the lifestyles or habits of anti-vaxxers. For example, one question that has popped up numerous times is “ Do vaccine deniers vaccinate their pets?” For the most part the responses are simply yea or nay but this one particular lady had a few more things she needed to get off her chest.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like she was a little offended and had a slight attitude. I’ve noticed that this is one area where the anti-vaxxers come together and she isn’t the only one who feels some type of way when being called a name that doesn’t really reflect who they are and what they believe in. One user by the name of Mark Mcginty even says “Firstly there is no such thing as anti-vax, that term was coined to demonize the pro-vax-safety/pro-vax-choice movement.” There were plenty of posts like this one in an effort to sway people away from the idea that they’re just “anti-vax”. In actuality this group of people like to be informed and make these choices based on the information they get, not just the idea that vaccines are harmful and deadly.
“My body, my choice”
There were a number of different conflicts within this community but one major one that keeps popping up is the use of “my body my choice” to explain opting out of vaccines. This particular topic caused a lot of engagement and comments from pro-vax-choice and pro-vaccination groups. Anytime anyone tries to use this saying, the pro-vaxxers are the first to comment, and it usually looks something like this person’s response…without all the extra explaining.
As you can probably expect, there were more responses like his and this led to a whole bunch more back and forth between the two groups. But this is just one out of the many disputes in this community.
I can only imagine the scrutiny and side comments that the pro-vax-choice community faces on a day to day basis, especially now during the pandemic. But imagine if your preferences and beliefs started to affect more than just the smug looks you receive. What if your credentials or profession becomes jeopardized because of your belief? What would you do ?
