Thread by @macroliter

You’ll never believe it, but morbid fascination Twitter has tribes… 🧵

..an infodemic of dueling social media pundits pushing warring doomsday scenarios, while others falsely insist the virus is harmless. /2

… yes, you should try to avoid catching the virus, but no COVID won’t “wipe out your T-cells like airborne AIDS”… /3

..and no, COVID doesn’t infect brain cells…a typical case is not gonna “shave off IQ points..” /4

..and despite that #LongCovid is legit and quite tragic, most infections resolve without nasty sequelae, especially if you’re fully vaccinated .. /5

..there are still plenty of unknowns and I get that that’s scary.. /6

..but when we give in to the urge to be entertained by scary outlier studies— a few of which may involve true examples of what can happen at rare extremes.. /7

..then our understanding of the pandemic and its risks becomes exaggerated and distorted by fear … like a carnival hall of mirrors.. /8

.. worse yet we can lose the ability to calibrate our responses to the actual risks.. /9

..while creating openings for people pushing wishful thinking takes, like “it’s mild”… “it’s just a cold” /10

.. or hey, “no big deal, we can cure it with ivermectin..” In short, social media is a double-edged sword .. a great way to reach large audiences.. /11

…but lies (and distortions) can surf 🏄‍♀️ these radio waves just as fast as truth can, and are often far more entertaining.. /12

Therein lies the rub… critical thinking & distinguishing valid sources from phonies are more important than ever.. /13

..hey, it’s a big, wide world and the best parts are not on Twitter..stay sane, folks! /14