How to Promote Mask Wearing

(Hint: Not the way anyone's been doing it) 


Whether you approve of wearing a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or oppose it, there is no disputing that mask-wearing has been poorly promoted. From mixed messages to outright intimidation, it could've gone better.

It didn't have to be this way, but it looks like we’re stuck with it, because a better approach wasn’t taken from the beginning.

Off the top of my head, I count 3 crucial missteps with regards to encouraging mask wearing.

1. Fauci's flip-flop. The potential for consensus on mask wearing was mostly destroyed by the nation's preeminent physician himself when he initially came out against the wearing masks. Fauci continues to undermine hope for consensus favorable to masking by asserting he was right to discourage masking early on.

2. Negative incentives. Appeals to volunteerism (do your part) encourage participation whereas mandates (do or else) encourage resistance. In my opinion, the worst way to promote anything is by mandates. Mandates promote both defiance and vigilantism. It is bad enough when mandates are made toothless by having no enforcement mechanism, but even backed by fines or worse, mask mandates have brought out the worst in people. We've all seen the videos of self-appointed mask enforcers and defiant anti-maskers both accosting strangers.

3. Poor messaging. A large-scale campaign (by anyone) built around a simple slogan like "Wearing is Caring" could potentially have garnered large buy-in. Rhyme is persuasive, as is brevity. But even now, a Google search of "wearing is caring" returns a paltry 90,000 results.

Similar statements, such as "wearing shows you care" lack impact and imply wearing a mask is just a signal rather than an act of caring itself. This prompts a host of retorts from "I don't need a mask to show I care" to questioning the sincerity of mask wearers.

I don't know if it is too late to fix this, but it probably is, especially since the one particularly prominent figure who got us here won't admit he misled the public on masks. 

For what it's worth, though he came around late, the president is making an effort to encourage mask-wearing. He has mad appearances wearing a mask in public correctly, and has reversed his message on what message wearing a mask sends. 

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