Vaccination call via Twitter
“Strong and loud majority”: Smudo, Hayali & Co. advertise vaccination with # allesindenArm hashtag
Smudo – prominent supporter of the #allesindenArm campaign
© Christian Charisius / Picture Alliance
In view of the rapidly increasing number of infections, Twitter users are calling for the corona vaccination under the hashtag #allesindenArm. The campaign is getting a lot of momentum from numerous celebrities.
Anyone who has been hanging around on Twitter in the last 24 hours could briefly get the impression of having ended up in a self-help group. Thousands of users presented themselves under the hashtag #allesindarm with name, age and occupation and told in a serious or humorous way why they had been vaccinated.
One nurse wrote that she saw the pandemic in an intensive care unit for three waves and “saw people die miserably and alone”. One bartender pointed out that while others could provide better information about mRNA, he had a very good overview of “what you pour your throat into at night”. In contrast, a vaccine would be classified as a “dropper”.
The vaccination call really picked up speed, however, when prominent personalities such as “Fanta Vier” rapper Smudo, the newly elected Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Manuela Schwesig (SPD) and the virologist Melanie Brinkmann suddenly dropped tweets. “Hello. I am Igor Levit and I am a pianist. I am vaccinated. Science and solidarity are the way out of the pandemic. Therefore: Get vaccinated! #AllesindenArm”, wrote the star pianist Levit, for example.
Expert: Action can correct distorted perception
But there are also critical comments. Some users simply doubt that requests in tweets will convince those who have previously been against a corona vaccination. For the communication scientist Wolfgang Schweiger, the vaccination call has already achieved an important goal.
“It is always good to show the minority of those who oppose the vaccination that there is a strong and loud majority of people and celebrities who are vaccinated and who consider that to be in solidarity,” said Schweiger star. Opponents of vaccinations are astonishingly loud on social media, and phenomena such as filter bubbles and echo chambers often confirm their own opinion.
The hashtag, which was trending at the same time, showed how fast this can go #ImpftEuchInsKnie among the vaccination opponents ranted against the spades and compulsory vaccination. In terms of numbers, #allesindenArm was on Monday evening with more than 88,000 tweets, however, well above the anti-vaccination hashtag, which had almost 5,000 tweets. Such an action could therefore correct the distorted perception of opinion among opponents of vaccination a little, says Schweiger, who teaches at the University of Hohenheim.
Celebrity voices are important for vaccination success
In addition to numerous politicians, presenter Dunja Hayali, weather expert Jörg Kachelmann and actor Marcus Mittermeier also spoke out in favor of a vaccination under the hashtag. According to communication expert Schweiger, the latter in particular play an important role in the success of the vaccination call.
“Celebrities and influencers are often role models for their fans that they emulate,” said Schweiger. “Unlike many politicians, you are considered authentic, credible and independent.” That is why it is so important that this action is not perceived as a state vaccination campaign.