May 12, 2020 Social media influencers could get teens to follow social distancing guidelines, say researchers -- -- by University of Cambridge Social media influencers could encourage adolescents to follow social distancing guidelines, say researchers Credit: Jasmin Sessler from Pixabay -- -- Public health bodies should consider incentivizing social media influencers to encourage adolescents to follow social distancing guidelines, say researchers. Many adolescents are choosing to ignore the guidelines set out by governments during the COVID-19 pandemic, and -- -- "For many people, adolescence—between the ages of 10 and 24—is when you want to be making more social connections, not losing them. It's also a time of increased risk-taking and sensitivity to peer influence," said Jack Andrews at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, and first author of the paper. "For some adolescents it's a challenge to stick to -- -- Sciences. Campaigns led by adults that try to influence adolescent behavior often have mixed success. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the widespread implementation of social distancing measures, led by -- -- "Adolescents look to their peers to understand social norms, and align their behavior with the group they want to belong to. The speed and extent of peer influence online is likely to amplified, because social media has such a wide and immediate reach," said Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore at the University of Cambridge's Department of Psychology, -- -- by 25% as a result, compared with other schools. "The advantage of social media influencers is that the motivation for social distancing comes naturally from the young people themselves. -- social distancing comes naturally from the young people themselves. Influencers could post videos or photos online, for example, showing how they are following social distancing rules by staying at home, and add tags to increase their visibility through sharing and Likes. Many -- -- If social distancing can be established as a group norm amongst friends, it is more likely to be copied by others. Another advantage of targeting social media influencers is that they exist across many spheres of interest so have the potential to reach diverse groups of young people. -- -- given the capacity to lead their own ideas. They hope that their proposals will be taken up by charities and public health bodies who can work with influencers to make sure the correct type of information is being shared. __________________________________________________________________ -- -- Explore further Study explores impacts of social distancing on youth __________________________________________________________________ -- -- __________________________________________________________________ More information: Jack L. Andrews et al. Peer influence in adolescence: Public-health implications for COVID-19, Trends in Cognitive Sciences (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.05.001 -- -- Journal information: Trends in Cognitive Sciences Provided by University of Cambridge Citation: Social media influencers could get teens to follow social distancing guidelines, say researchers (2020, May 12) retrieved 20 January 2021 from -- -- Related Stories Study explores impacts of social distancing on youth May 07, 2020 -- -- May 06, 2020 COVID-19 study: Impact of social distancing on older adults May 04, 2020 * -- -- IFRAME: //js.trendmd.com/trendmd.amp.html?title=Social%20media%20influencers%20 could%20get%20teens%20to%20follow%20social%20distancing%20guidelines%2C %20say%20researchers&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedicalxpress.com%2Fnews%2F2020- -- -- E-mail the story Social media influencers could get teens to follow social distancing guidelines, say researchers