Category Archives: Human Behavior

Human Behavior

To fly or not to fly tips from experts on how to minimize risk – ThePrint

We dont know about you, but were ready to travel. And that typically means flying.

We have been thinking through this issue as moms and as anexposure scientistandinfectious disease epidemiologist. While weve decided personally that were not going to fly right now, we will walk you through our thought process on what to consider and how to minimize your risks.

A secondary concern is contact with contaminated surfaces. When an infected person contaminates a shared armrest, airport restroom handle, seat tray or other item, the virus can survive for hours though it degradesover time. If you touch that surface and then touch your mouth or nose, you put yourself at risk of infection.

While there is no way to make air travel 100% safe, there are ways to make it safer. Its important to think through the particulars for each trip.

One approach to your decision-making is to use what occupational health experts call thehierarchy of controls. This approach does two things. It focuses on strategies to control exposures close to the source. Second, it minimizes how much you have to rely on individual human behavior to control exposure. Its important to remember you may be infectious and everyone around you may also be infectious.

The best way to control exposure is to eliminate the hazard. Since we cannot eliminate the new coronavirus, ask yourself if you can eliminate the trip. Think extra hard if you areolder or have preexisting conditions, or if you are going to visit someone in that position.

If you are healthy and those you visit are healthy, think about ways to substitute the hazard. Is it possible to drive? This would allow you to have more control over minimizing your exposures, particularly if the distance is less than a day of travel.

Also read: I took one of Indias first flights in months. It was surreal

Youre going, now what?

If you choose to fly, check out airlines policies on seating and boarding. Some areminimizing capacity and spacing passengersby not using middle seats and having empty rows. Others are boarding from the back of the plane. Some that were criticized for filling their planes to capacity have announced plans to allow customers to cancel their flights if the flight goes over 70% passenger seating capacity.

Federal and state guidance is changing constantly, so make sure you look up the most recent guidance from government agencies and the airlines and airport you are using for additional advice, and current policies or restrictions.

While this may sound counterintuitive, consider booking multiple, shorter flights. This will decrease the likelihood of having to use the lavatory and the duration of exposure to an infectious person on the plane.

After you book, select a window seat if possible. If you consider the six-foot radius circle around you, having a wall on one side would directlyreduce the number of people you are exposedto during the flight in half, not to mention all the people going up and down the aisle.

Also, check out your airline to see their engineering controls that are designed or put into practice to isolate hazards. These include ventilation systems, on-board barriers and electrostatic disinfectant sprays on flights.

When the ventilation system on planes is operating, planes have avery high ratio of outside fresh air to recirculated air about 10 times higher than most commercial buildings. Plus, most planesventilation systems have HEPA filters. These are at least 99.9% effective at removing particles that are 0.3 microns in diameter and more efficient at removing both smaller and larger particles.

Also read: More than 1.65 lakh people have travelled in 2,198 flights after resumption of air travel

How to be safe from shuttle to seat

From checking in, to going through security to boarding, you will be touching many surfaces. To minimize risk:

If you are thinking about flying with kids, there are special considerations. Getting a young child to adhere to wearing a mask and maintaining good hygiene behaviors at home is hard enough; it may be impossible to do so when flying. Children under 2 should not wear a mask.

Each day, we are all constantly faced with decisions about our own personal comfort with risk. Arming yourself with specific knowledge about your airport and airline, and maximizing your use of protective measures that you have control over, can reduce your risk. A good analogy might be that every time you get in the car to drive somewhere there is risk of an accident, but there is a big difference between driving the speed limit with your seat belt on and driving blindfolded, 60 miles an hour through the middle of town.

This article was republished from the World Economic Forum

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To fly or not to fly tips from experts on how to minimize risk - ThePrint

Human Behavior

Coronavirus has killed more than 100000 people in the US in less than four months – The Philadelphia Tribune

In less than four months, coronavirus has killed more than 100,000 people in the United States.

It's as if every person died in Boca Raton, Florida. Or almost everyone in South Bend, Indiana.

When the first coronavirus-related death was reported in February, no one could have fathomed the numbing stream of grim news that followed. Since then, an average of nearly 900 people have perished every day from Covid-19.

Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free.Please support us by making a contribution.

With social distancing rules keeping families apart, many of the sick died alone in hospital rooms as loved ones were forced to say goodbye through phone screens.

Others died at home, too sick or too scared to go to the hospital for coronavirus tests. Their stories never made it to the roster of deaths, which means the tolls could be much higher.

Families have lost fathers, mothers, siblings, grandparents and even children. America has lost the best of humanity, with victims including an ER doctor who risked his life trying to save others, a 36-year-old principal who helped grow produce for the needy and a Holocaust survivor who saved families from genocide.

Understanding the massive scale of coronavirus in the US

Health officials have struggled to make sense of the highly contagious and poorly understood disease even as coronavirus circulates in the United States, where nearly 1.7 million have tested positive. And experts are still learning new things.

For months, public health officials have urged people to stay six feet apart to slow its spread through respiratory droplets. But three experts are warning that six feet may not be enough -- and are asking the world to take airborne transmission of the virus seriously.

In a commentary published in the journal Science, the experts highlighted the importance of masks and regular, widespread testing.

They pointed to places such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, where mask wearing is universal and the virus has been controlled.

"Evidence suggests that [the novel coronavirus] is silently spreading in aerosols exhaled by highly contagious infected individuals with no symptoms," wrote Chia Wang of National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, and Kimberly Prather and Dr. Robert Schooley of the University of California, San Diego.

"Increasing evidence for [the coronavirus] suggests the six-foot WHO recommendation is likely not enough under many indoor conditions where aerosols can remain airborne for hours, accumulate over time and follow air flows over distances farther than six feet," they wrote.

The three experts are specialists in chemistry and infectious diseases. They said aerosols from breathing and speaking can accumulate and remain infectious in indoor air for hours, and can be easily inhaled into the lungs.

That makes wearing masks all the more essential, they said, even when people are keeping their distance.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has addressed the issue of respiratory droplets produced when a person coughs or sneezes. It has said they "can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs."

Spread is more likely when people are in close contact with one another, or "within about 6 feet," the CDC says.

While health officials have focused on droplets, the three experts said "a large proportion" of the spread of coronavirus disease appears to be occurring through airborne transmission of aerosols produced by asymptomatic people during breathing and speaking.

The US did not have to lose 100,0000 people in the first five months of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an expert on viruses and biotechnology.

Better preparation and guidance could have helped lower the death toll, said Dr. William Haseltine, president of the think tank ACCESS Health International.

"We already know how to control the virus in a big population. It can be done through human behavior," the former professor at Harvard Medical School told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "It didn't have to happen if we had been prepared."

Experts had worked with the US Department of Defense and Homeland Security to plan and protect the country from bioterrorism, as well as from threats like the coronavirus.

"It was totally predictable that another coronavirus was on its way," Haseltine said. "The mechanism exists, the stockpile, the drugs," he said. "There was a hole in our safety net."

China, New Zealand, and Australia have effectively dealt with coronavirus outbreaks, bringing their cases down through testing, contact tracing and isolation, Haseltine said.

The key to their success was behavior change without the benefit of a vaccine or effective drug.

While the nation tries to keep infection rates down, some states are doing better than others.

Illinois appears to be entering a "downward trend," with the week ending May 16 being its first with a lower number of coronavirus deaths than the week before.

Washington, DC will move Friday into Phase 1 of reopening after it had a 14-day decline in cases of coronavirus community spread, , Mayor Muriel Bowser said.

But other regions did not fare as well. As of Wednesday, there were 14 states in which the number of cases was still trending upward.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves warned residents to stay vigilant because the state is still seeing a steady number of cases.

California became the fourth state Wednesday with more than 100,000 cases. New York, New Jersey and Illinois were the first three to reach the milestone.

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Coronavirus has killed more than 100000 people in the US in less than four months - The Philadelphia Tribune

Human Behavior

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Human Behavior

20 Great Human Behavior Research Topics for College Students

It does not matter whether it is psychology, sociology, biology, management, philosophy, anthropology, history, or human resource management that you study human behavior constitutes an integral part of every single one of these courses. Apart from teaching us to understand each other, studying human behavior also helps us figure out reasons for acting this or that way in some situations or prevent us from facing fatal consequences of a wrong action. It is not the most complicated process, but the student should know some crucial nuances of it.

Communication and human behavior are interconnected which is why you will derive nothing but benefit from studying both subjects. It is essential when it comes to starting a business, building relationships, proving your truth, and many other things. To help students come up with ways of surviving in the highly dynamic modern world, tutors often assign homework tasks related to human behavior.

In some cases, you will be provided with a topic, while in others, the tutor may leave it up to the student to choose the research paper topic, and we can assure you that coming up with one may not be as easy as some students may think.

Before providing you with a list of research topics on human behavior, we would like to recall some of the major principles of selecting a good idea.

Be sure to consult with your tutor before making the final choice, because they may recommend you some better options or provide you with hints on how to collect essential information and properly structure your essay. You can also seek their help with a preferred format if you are not sure which one to pick. Keep in mind that psychology or human behavior essays are mostly written in American Psychological Association (APA) citation format.

Regardless of whether you research human behavior or another subject, the structure of the final document should be as follows: a title page, abstract, introduction, methodology, findings, discussion and conclusion, bibliography, and appendices (optional). Doing this type of academic assignment requires more time than writing an essay, so its always a good idea to give yourself some leeway. We recommend developing an abstract & thesis statement at the end once you are done with the rest of the paragraphs. Start with methods where you describe the tools & equipment used during the research process. Move smoothly to the results of your experiment, stressing the most important findings and discussing them with the audience.

In conclusion, explain the importance of your study and suggest ways of implementing your study findings in real life situations. Also, make some future forecasts to provide an opportunity for other researchers interested in the same question to pick up from where you left off. The sources listed in the bibliography (references) section will help your audience be more tolerant about the problem under discussion, so make sure you cite each source properly. Now, lets explore some exciting human behavior research topics!

Now, you have a list of the best ideas you may use while studying subjects associated with human behavior. But what if you still feel that creating a properly written research on human behavior is a task you can never accomplish on your own? Well, that's what were here for! Our professional academic writers are available 24/7 and can solve any academic problems you face in the shortest possible time! It's time to stop worrying yourself to death and place your order now!

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20 Great Human Behavior Research Topics for College Students

Human Behavior

What Birds Do for Us and What We Can Do for Them – The New York Times

This spring, the dawn chorus sounds different. In the dark hours before sunrise, my yard whistles, chips, hoots, and trills with deafening birdsong. The birds caroling at my home in Virginia robins, mockingbirds, warblers, cardinals, titmice, finches sound more numerous, boisterous and energetic than in past years, all singing raucously at the same time, like a poetry slam where everyones reading at once.

Have the lockdowns resulted in more abundant birds? Is our behavior changing theirs, making them bolder, louder, more present in our yards and parks, or is the birdsong just more audible because theres less ambient roar from cars, overhead jets, construction?

Or is it we who have changed, taking more notice of bird life now that our own lives have slowed?

The studies arent in on the impact of shifting human patterns on bird activity during the pandemic. It will most likely take years before we have firm data. But the anecdotes, from all around the world, are intriguing. My friends in Australia and New Zealand tell me that since the lockdowns began, flocks of spine-tailed swifts have swelled, more fairy-wrens are popping up at their bird baths and kereru big pigeons that swallow large fruit are perching on their back fences. The lack of people is indeed being noticed by the wildlife, said Darryl Jones, an ecologist at Griffith University specializing in the interaction between humans and wildlife. He points to the pair of very rare glossy black cockatoos that showed up on the vacant Griffith campus near Brisbane, along with more than 50 koalas in the nearby forest.

When the lockdowns were in full force, birds appeared to be thriving with the dip in noise and light and air pollution, along with emptied-out parks and public gardens that are usually a crush of people and traffic congestion. Here in the United States, ravens normally on edge around their nests in Yosemite were more relaxed, even playful in the empty parking lots, and endangered piping plovers had the beaches to themselves. One friend of mine from New York wrote to say, There seem to be birds everywhere in the city, more than usual, having parties in the bushes, quarreling, singing.

Roadkills have most likely been down, the naturalist and conservationist Kenn Kaufman told me. In open country, they have not been happening at nearly the same rate, he said, sparing roadside species like meadowlarks and redheaded woodpeckers. There have also been far fewer bird strikes by airplanes, decreasing kills of kestrels, killdeer and other species.

The reduction in noise may have a more subtle but still beneficial effect. Birds sing in the early morning to mark their territory and attract mates. Their efforts, however, often coincide with the roar of early morning rush hour. A few years ago, scientists from the University of Florida found that noisy highways prevented tufted titmice and northern cardinals from hearing alarm calls from fellow birds, warning of dangerous predators in the area, putting them at greater risk of becoming prey.

Now that things are opening up, all of this may be changing. Those ravens in Yosemite parking lots and shorebirds nesting on once empty beaches must now contend with returning crowds. The human din is beginning again.

The more enduring change may be in human behavior around birds. At the moment, most serious bird-watchers are not sashaying out to distant locations to spot a vagrant species or catch the big waves of migratory species passing through, but rather, observing more birdlife close to home. The American Bird Association, which calls the shots on ethical birding, advises: Keep your eyes on the skies but your butt close to home. And at least for now, thats what most birders are doing (including Christian Cooper, whose experience safely birding in peace in Central Park was stolen from him).

Mr. Kaufman laments missing his regular visits to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area in Ohio, a famous hot spot for spring migration on the edge of Lake Erie, still rightly closed to the public. Ordinarily at this season we would be going a few times per week to see water birds like herons, grebes, and coots, he says. At the waters edge, long-distance migrant shorebirds like pectoral sandpipers, lesser yellowlegs, and American golden-plovers would be showing up, coming from South America, gradually making their way to nesting grounds on Arctic tundra. Back in the woods, the first wave of songbird migrants would be pumping in: fox sparrows, purple finches, rusty blackbirds, hermit thrushes, lots of golden-crowned kinglets.

But, he says, he really cant complain. Hes just focusing more on the birds in the habitat of his yard. There was a fox sparrow here the other day one of my favorite birds. It felt like a blessing.

A lot of us, even those of us who arent hard-core birders, are turning more toward our yards and gardens, noting birds and bird activities weve never seen before not because theyre new, necessarily, but because weve just never paid such close attention. One neighbor walking her dog remarked that shes seeing more of spring than ever. I just saw an early indigo bunting flying through our yard, wrote a friend. Ordinarily they dont love my neighborhood and especially our overgrown yard, so I am ecstatic.

With any luck, this human shift may stick: People noticing the birds around them more and finding entertainment, solace, even wisdom in watching them going about their lives in a regular way, finding mates, building nests, raising young, resilient and persistent. Birds may have something important to tell us about what it takes to navigate this world, especially under difficult circumstances. In exploring new discoveries in bird science, Im struck by how birds play, adapt, innovate, and especially, work together in tough times. Birds cooperate and collaborate in everything from hunting, courting, and migrating, to raising and defending their young, sometimes even across species lines.

While the pandemic may have brought birds into closer focus for many of us, it has also given our current administration cover for rolling back vital environmental policies that protect birds, easing limits on auto emissions, restricting the reach of the Endangered Species Act and eviscerating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Ending the five-decade-old practice of pressuring industries to take measures to prevent unintentional killing (or incidental take) of migratory birds is likely to result in the catastrophic death of hundreds of millions of birds every year. The long-term impact of all of these changes will harm both birds and people.

We want to return to our lives and livelihoods, but not by sacrificing the natural world that supports us in body and in spirit. One older bird-watcher I know described the effect of seeing a bluebird in his urban backyard during the lockdown, for only the third time in sixteen years. The aura of it was bigger than the essence, the cold hard fact, of it, he said. A bluebird on my backyard fence is just a bird sitting on a piece of metal. But what it does to me is so much more, the emotional and psychological uplift, the brightening. In three minutes, the bird was gone, but my day had utterly changed.

Jennifer Ackerman (@JenGAckerman) is the author, most recently, of The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think.

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What Birds Do for Us and What We Can Do for Them - The New York Times

Human Behavior

How Not to Respond During Off-Leash Incidents – The Bark

A video (below) capturing a highly charged incident that occurred between a woman walking her dog and a birdwatcher in NYCs Central Park has gone viral. The antagonistic confrontation has spurred charges of racism, entitlement and accusations of animal cruelty. While we feel that the accusations of racist behavior are valid, well leave that discussion to the political pundits and social activists and, instead, weigh in on the dog part of the equation. Step-by-step, heres what is wrong with this picture and our recommendations for good dog AND human behavior in these types of situations.

Postscript: Henry, the Cocker Spaniel shown in the video has been surrendered to the rescue group who adopted him out a few years ago while the aftermath of this event blows over. Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue, Inc. posted the following on their Facebook page:

Thank you to the concerned public for reaching out to us about a video involving a dog that was adopted from our rescue a few years ago. As of this evening, the owner has voluntarily surrendered the dog in question to our rescue while this matter is being addressed. Our mission remains the health and safety of our rescued dogs. The dog is now in our rescues care and he is safe and in good health. We will not be responding to any further inquiries about the situation, either publicly or privately. Thank you for your understanding.

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How Not to Respond During Off-Leash Incidents - The Bark

Human Behavior

We have slipped down the slope of ‘relative ethics’ – theday.com

What is the difference between moral and ethical issues? Moral issues deal with establishment and dissemination of absolute rules ofhuman behavior such as the difference between what is rightand wrong, good or bad whereas ethical issues deal with theimplementation of those moral rules of conductthat form an essential part of a particular cultureor group such as medical ethics or Christian ethics. Those ethics are groundedin either unchanging absolute moralterms or are relative and shifting.

Absolute ethics aregenerally accepted rules of human behavior. Relative ethics differ according to the nature of the culture for which they were established or by which they are interpreted.Thus, the rules of behavior for the elite in society, including the very rich, powerful, and celebrities, may differ from generally accepted rules of behavior.Many religions tell their followers, "Thou shall not kill." But powerful national leaders can say it is permitted because it is God's will. Thus, the leaders ofnations have the power to switch from theabsolute torelative ethical rules to direct their soldiers, who have been taught by the absolute ethical rule of "not to kill" to in fact kill in the name of God or country.

Likewise, absolute ethical rules state it is bad human behavior to lie or bribe people to gain personal advantage. However, in the domain or relative ethics, rulers of nations lie and bribe without hesitation and justify it by saying that the lie or bribe was in the best interests of the people.

Today, the relative ethical domain has expanded to include global organizations, national industries, large corporations, local governments, small businesses, families, and, yes, even individuals who rationalize, "If it is in my best interest, I will do it,ethics be damned!"

Years ago, my boss, the head of publications at a research laboratory, called a meeting of his supervisors about a new directive he had received. He told us he was not going to follow that directive. When asked what he would say if someone up the chain of command questioned him about it, he said, "I will lie."

Maybe the Social Sciences can develop theories, test hypotheses, and replicate results to obtain facts proving that the interests of all these social entities are best served by returning to the domain of absolute ethics and restoring credibility to the conduct of our affairs.

Alfred H. Lotring lives in the Gales Ferry section of Ledyard.

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We have slipped down the slope of 'relative ethics' - theday.com

Human Behavior

ASK THE BOARD: The Psychology of Digital Signage Content – Digital Signage Connection

How has psychology and understanding the human brain helped to inform your content approaches?

This weeks question is answered by members of the DSE Advisory BoardCONTENT COUNCIL

We subconsciously use bias all the time to make choices and navigate information we are exposed to through other people and our environment. Broadly speaking, bias is a general pattern or a tendency to think in a certain way.

DR. ELIZABETH CORNELLDirector of Internal CommunicationsFordham IT

We learned early on that, if we were to create content for an often soundless medium that audiences were usually only glancing at, we needed some insight into how to cheat the human system.

DAVE DOLEJSIAssociate Vice President Content StrategySt. Joseph Communications

The psychological/human brain stat I continually go back to is a research study conducted by statisticbrain. The study shows us that

STEVE GLANCEYVice President Business Development ScreenfeedContent

Without question, having a better understanding of the human psyche is invaluable to the way in which we produce content. It provides us with an understanding of how humans react to color and various visual cues.

BRYAN MESZAROSCEO & Founder OpenEye

Understanding human behavior is key to creating both advertising and informational content. With advertising content, theres often a need to create an emotional connection between a brand and the consumer.

JIM NISTASenior Director of Content Creation Services, Almo Pro AV

As part of our delivery of fully integrated brand experiences, my digital experience teams employ a design thinking methodology, which is founded on human-centered design. This is the process by which, before we can create content or deliver an experience, we must first understand

MARCOS TERENZIOVice President, Creative & Strategy iGotcha Media

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ASK THE BOARD: The Psychology of Digital Signage Content - Digital Signage Connection

Human Behavior

How fast will you need to flee from the heat? There’s a word for that. – Grist

News on climate in the time of coronavirusSubscribe today

Ocean creatures are finding themselves in hot water as the world warms. To stay cool, theyre relocating to deeper parts of the ocean, and its throwing ecosystems all out of whack.

A new study in the journal Nature Climate Change calculated how fast different layers of the ocean are heating up. Species are swimming to deeper waters to escape the heat at different rates, and the researchers warn that many sea dwellers like tuna, which rely on plankton at the waters surface for food, might struggle to adapt.

The study brought a new phrase into the news: climate velocity. Its basically the speed and direction that a given species will need to shift as their corner of the world heats up. Climate velocity has been in use in academic circles for more than a decade, but the study marks the first time the phrase made the headlines.

As climate change reshuffles life on earth, climate velocity applies up here on the surface, too. Warmer weather will drive animals seeking new homes into encounters with species they dont normally meet sort of like how grizzlies have been showing up in polar bears dwindling territory, leading to the emergence of grolar bears (or pizzlies?). And its not just flora and fauna. Humans, too, will have to move to survive.

Global warming will make large swaths of the Earth too hot for humans, as David Wallace-Wells memorably described in The Uninhabitable Earth, a book that features a grisly account of how the body breaks down in sweltering heat. Thats just one of many interesting challenges in store. The rising ocean is already submerging coasts, and changing weather patterns are helping to create new deserts. (The Sahara is expected to keep swallowing up more land as the planet warms.) Researchers estimate that the climate crisis could displace between 25 million and 1 billion people by 2050. For perspective, the most commonly cited number 200 million means that one in every 45 people would be displaced by mid-century.

Warmer weather and changing weather patterns are already altering how people grow food. In Alaska, for instance, rising temperatures mean that farmers can farm potatoes on the previously inhospitable tundra. Greenlanders are harvesting strawberries and tomatoes. In California, farmers are planting orchards, crossing their fingers that the fruit and nut trees theyre planting today will be able to make it in the hotter, drier world that the coming decades will bring.

Migration is inevitable. The fish are definitely in trouble. But our climate velocity, the pace at which people will be forced to abandon their homes and relocate, is largely TBD. One reason estimates of the number of people who will be displaced varies so widely is that its hard to predict human behavior. If governments decide to pull the plug on fossil fuel emissions soon, it will slow climate velocity and save human lives and probably rescue a bunch of cute marine species, too.

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How fast will you need to flee from the heat? There's a word for that. - Grist

Human Behavior

How to stop friends and relatives from spreading misinformation about Covid-19 – CNBC

A volunteer in Chennai, India holds a placard to raise awareness about the coronavirus on a street during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Arun Sankar | AFP | Getty Images

Are you seeing misinformation about the coronavirus across your social media feeds? You're far from alone.

Studies are finding that huge swaths of the population believe at least one false claim about Covid-19, and many are openly sharing content to support their views online. More than thirty percent of Americans believe that scientists created the novel coronavirus in a lab, for instance, even though that theory has been widely discredited.

False claims have become so widespread during the pandemic that the World Health Organization has been referring to an "infodemic."

So what should you do if you spot people sharing falsehoods on social media? And is there a way to convince them otherwise?

CNBC spoke to a range of experts to get their advice on how to call out misinformation, ideally without alienating friends or family members in the process. They all agreed that the exercise is absolutely worth trying --and numerous studies support that -- but to recognize that you might not always be successful.

Here are some of their top tips if you're willing to try:

Sherry Pagoto,a professor in the department of allied health sciences at the University of Connecticut, has been thinking about this topic quite a bit. Pagoto, who studies human behavior, has seen false information spreading on her own social media feeds at an accelerated pace during the pandemic.

Her advice to others is to avoid making the person posting the information feel stupid by embarrassing them publicly. That will likely just make them more defensive, which is counter-productive if your goal is to change their mind. Instead, send a private message instead or set up a time to talk one-on-one, depending on how close you are to that person.

"You don't want it to feel like a 'gotcha' moment," warns Pagoto.

She acknowledges that there is some value in posting publicly, so others in the community can see the post and the replies. But she will often try out a private message initially, and hope that the poster will consider taking the content down without feeling shamed.

Dan Ness, a technology researcher based in Southern California, recently saw a neighbor post on Nextdoor about a local politicianquestioning how many people had really died from Covid-19. The intent of the post was to spur a discussion about re-opening businesses.

Ness noticed that the source of the information seemed dubious, so he asked the neighbor privately whether he might want to double-check it just in case the politician had been quoted inaccurately.

It worked. The neighbor chose to take the post down.

"He didn't feel attacked by my belittling him," said Ness, when asked about why he thought the strategy was successful.

Gina Merchant, a behavioral scientist based in San Diego, leads with curiosity and empathy when combating misinformation. If she sees a reference to the "China virus"on her feeds, for instance, she'll ask questions or open up a broader discussion. (Public health experts have criticized the term "China virus", which has been used by President Trump, as contributing to xenophobia and racism against people of Asian descent).

"I'll write something back like, 'it's interesting to think about where viruses come from,'" she explained, before trying to engage in a conversation about the term."I try to pivot the conversation away from being emotionally charged," she said.

Pagoto suggested acknowledging that a person might find a piece of misinformation compelling, before passing along the information that contradicts it.

"That's very understandable, given that misinformation is becoming more and more sophisticated," she notes.

When Dr. Ashely Alker started getting a flurry of questions about a viral video clip, called Plandemic, she knew she needed to address it with her family and friends. So Dr. Alker, who works in emergency medicine, put together a Twitter thread where she dismantled many of the false claims made in the film and shared it with her network.

Dr. Alker said she always takes the time to combat misinformation, but tries to do it in a way people can relate to. "I like making science something that everyone can understand," she said. "If you can give someone a way to relate to the information it helps."

She will often start with science that is generally known or accepted, and build from that. She avoids using medical jargon whenever possible. She's had a lot of success with that approach, and is now putting together weekly infographics to explain various aspects of the science.

"What does not work is getting political or making a person feel stupid," she added.

Zayna Khayat, a health strategist, has had mixed success sharing data. She recently tried to correct a distant family friend who posted about a previous flu outbreak that killed a lot of Americans, while arguing against shutdowns for Covid-19.

"I replied with a simple fact check and added three to four bullet points of facts that shut the whole article down."

"No response," she said.

In Pagoto's experience, non-scientists are often better at digesting new information in the form of stories than facts, graphics, charts and statistics. When confronted with contradictory information, some people will even double down on their existing views by looking for more data -- often from illegitimate sources -- that supports their point of view, rather than adapt in the face of new evidence.

"Not everyone makes their decisions and forms opinions based on data," said Pagoto. So she recommends using data where appropriate, but communicating using storytelling or personal anecdotes.

"It's better to come across as a human," adds Timothy Caulfield, a Canadian professor of law at the University of Alberta who specializes in researching misinformation. "We all want to engage with genuine individuals that seem to empathize with our concerns."

The experts agree that it is worthwhile to shoot off a couple links to credible research while making your appeal.

Pediatric neurophysiology fellow Dan Freedman took that approach when a friend in his network posted a video featuring the controversial scientistDr. Shiva Ayyadurai making false assertions about Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Freedman, who is based in Ohio, assumed that the poster wasn't aware of Ayyadurai's checkered past. So he pointed out that he lacked expertise in infectious diseases or immunology, was a known critic of vaccines, and had made a bogus claim that he invented email. "She realized her mistake and deleted the post (and) then when someone else shared it, she commented 'this guy is an antivaxxer'."

Freedman thinks the approach worked because he shared the information friend-to-friend, and didn't cast judgment on her for posting it.

"I told her that I knew she wasn't aware of his backstory and thought that this knowledge might change her mind."

Caulfield, the misinformation expert from the University of Alberta, agrees that it's still worth providing a short summary or a few links to the science, as well as to refer to trustworthy news sources. It doesn't always work, but some folks will even turn around and correct others with the new information at their fingertips.

If you've taken the time to combat misinformation, thank you for your service to the Internet. But know that you can't convince everyone.

While researching anti-vaccination content, Merchant realized that some people were open to new information (she calls them the "fence sitters"). But some hardline anti-vaxxers were not willing to budge, even in the face of ample scientific evidence.

So in some cases, you might not want to bother. And if you are feeling like you need a break, there's always the option to mute or block someone. You can also report the content as false on some social media sites, including to Facebook (although these companies have been notoriously slow at responding).

Ultimately, the experts recommend that you pick your battles. And please, don't get burnt out in the process.

Have you ever convinced a friend or family-member to take down misinformation? Share your strategy with us @CNBCTech.

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How to stop friends and relatives from spreading misinformation about Covid-19 - CNBC