Nguyen Hoang Long, 17

School

St. Joseph’s Institution

9 January 2023

Can social media make a positive impact on organ donation?

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School: St. Joseph’s Institution

Topic: Can social media make a positive impact on organ donation?

Award: Distinction, Senior Category, 2023

A network of caring: generating positive attitudes towards organ donation with social media

On the 12th of December, 2013, 13-year-old Jahi McMath was pronounced brain dead. The medical agency taking care of the girl was no longer obligated to continue providing medical care, yet her family demanded them to do so as they claimed her heart was beating and believed she was still alive. This disagreement led to a battle in court and generated a lot of public interest. This incidence is but one of many common myths which might prevent potential donors from donating their organs, since organ donation is only considered once brain death is certified. A lack of awareness of organ donation is often credited as the main reason behind the low donation rates in many countries. With the advent of social media, medical institutions and healthcare organisations are presented with a novel platform to engage with the members of the public and address misunderstandings on the subject. More effective engagement can inspire altruism in people, which is key to organ donation. With its expansive network, social media can play a pivotal role in educating, spreading a greater awareness and ultimately, generating a more positive attitude towards organ donation among the general public.

Employing social media can significantly increase the public’s understanding of the issue of organ donation. Social media comprises digital platforms that facilitate the creation and exchange of information and ideas between individuals and communities. Its effectiveness is attributed to having a huge percentile of the world’s population using it because of its relative ease of use. For example, social-networking websites such as Instagram or Twitter have features such as the ‘share’ button that enables users to send or upload on their page posts or information at the tip of their fingers. Through this feature, many videos or posts can be circulated around not only a close group of friends but also spread to a wider section of the community, hence going viral. Both government and non-governmental organisations as well as health providers have utilised social media to communicate with a wider audience. Some examples include organdonor.gov and LiveOn Facebook pages, which are set up by the Division of Transplantation (DoT) in the USA and the National Organ Transplant Unit in Singapore respectively. Both organisations use social media to deliver content on organ donation with further reach and interact with their followers. Similarly, forums and pages can facilitate the sharing of knowledge among interested individuals. A higher number of people can discuss and post queries on a subject online to medical experts more conveniently and subsequently, the need to go to medical centres lessens. Since social media can reach out to an ocean of people, it may spark changes in attitude towards organ donation among more people and at a faster rate than more direct, conventional means of outreach such as radio broadcast. Consequently, donation campaigns may garner greater support from the public and more lives might be saved with a larger supply of organs. Thus, it is undeniable that social media can be a powerful tool in influencing others by disseminating information to increase people’s awareness of organ donation.

In addition, more support could be garnered through using social media as a means to evoke altruism in people. Altruism is the underlying principle of organ donation. It is the selfless concern for the well-being of others without expecting any personal gain. For individuals to be altruistic and willing to support others, empathy is required. According to the “empathy-altruism hypothesis” by American social psychologist Daniel Batson, people are more inclined to care for others disregarding whether the cause benefits them if they can understand and experience others’ perspectives. An individual might be more driven to donate money or provisions to food banks if they understand and relate with those suffering from starvation, malnutrition or poverty.

Social media can help a person empathise with another by portraying those in need of help as human individuals instead of dry, abstract statistics. Owing to the advancement in technology, social media applications enable people to create content not only with greater ease but also greater emotional impact. For instance, individuals can share their own personal stories whether as an organ recipient or a donor, discuss their life experiences and express their thoughts and feelings via online streaming. This method can make the information shared by influencers and online creators more personal and relatable as it can make their viewers seemingly engaged in a conversation with them. As a result, their story has more emotional impact and may leave a lasting impression on the viewers compared to texts. Moreover, most mobile social media applications allow video sharing, which can convey a more compelling narrative than inanimate images or words. This form of media provides viewers the opportunity to feel more connected to the events and people they are watching through vivid visuals accompanying audio. Youtube is a case in point as a media-sharing platform. Launched by the Human Organ Transplant Act in Singapore, Don’t Hold Back is a digital campaign which encourages young people to discuss deceased organ donation with their families. Through Youtube, they are able to voice their experience and emotions, compelling viewers to place themselves in others’ shoes. In fact, the campaign successfully influenced 371 people to initiate conversations on the topic of becoming a donor with their loved ones. Viewers, especially young adults, might gain a new insight into organ donation and become motivated to become a donor because they feel strongly about making a positive impact on society. These shared experiences can effectively touch the hearts of a large number of people due to their authenticity and relatability. An increasing number of published content relating to personal experience with organ donation means the public are more likely to empathise with the recipients. Hence, people are more empowered by altruistic intention to register for organ donation.

On the other hand, some are concerned about the extent of widespread misinformation social media is capable of. The ease of use and the large base of users of social media has given rise to many people posting or sharing information of areas in which they are neither specialised nor certified. Organ donation might be framed in a negative light due to inaccurate and unreliable inputs from those people, ranging from fake news on Twitter and Facebook to the Youtube uploads covering questionable experimental therapies for organ diseases. Although false information is often given by unauthorised or unlicensed individuals and groups, it is able to affect the decisions of a considerable number of people, especially if they are ill-informed about the subject. The risk of spreading misleading information could hinder outreach attempts to raise awareness among the general public. Thus, more pressure is placed on people on the waiting list and their families as the availability of organs for transplantation decreases.

While social media can pose a challenge to clearing people’s doubts about organ donation, its merit in disseminating verified information can counteract online misinformation. There are many false articles on the effects or process of organ donation, such as living donors would not receive financial support for any loss incurred from donating. In response to such misinformation, legitimate professional societies and programmes could increase their use of social media to engage viewers and provide reliable information. Being more active on social-networking sites, medical professionals are more likely to discover incorrect content and correct misunderstandings regarding organ donation, thereby reducing the doubts and reluctance of people towards contributing part of themselves for the lives of others. The credibility of experts, coupled with the increasing caution among Internet users against digital falsehoods, reinforces people’s confidence in the facts provided. When the amount of content from trusted sources increases, the algorithm on social media platforms might be more favourable towards reliable information than misinformation, and the public could have more exposure to the accurate facts about the issue.

In summary, I firmly believe that social media has the potential to positively change people’s mindsets and views on organ donation. By having an extensive network of users and being convenient, social media allows reliable information to be distributed to the public and people to be moved and inspired to a greater extent. Even though the misuse of social online platforms might undermine attempts to raise awareness on the topic, its capacity to help professionals provide reliable information could counter this issue. Therefore, social media, used as a force for good, can positively influence the attitude of people towards organ donation, leading to more willing donors and funds raised for transplantation.

References

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2023 are those of the participants and are not endorsed by the National Organ Transplant Unit (Ministry of Health). To learn more about organ donation and organ transplantation in Singapore, please visit www.liveon.gov.sg

Government officials will never ask you to transfer money or disclose bank log-in details over a phone call.

Nguyen Hoang Long, 17

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