Community Facebook page lights up with pandemic chatter

Photo: Contributed

Dawn Tucker is co-admin of the Vernon & Area Community Facebook group.

For the first time in history, instant communication is available during a global crisis.

With the COVID-19 pandemic touching every corner of the world, a stream of information is available at the click of a mouse or tap of a phone.

Some of that information is accurate, some not so much.

In the tidal wave of social media, Dawn Tucker is co-admin of the Vernon & Area Community Facebook page.

Tucker says she feels an obligation in this time of uncertainty to help people navigate the COVID crisis with correct information, while providing a sense of community.

“We want to be a very positive space,” said Tucker. “We want the group to be a place where people can come together.

Experts say inaccurate information can stoke fear and uncertainty – something Tucker strives to avoid.

“We don't post conspiracy theories. We want to be a place for accurate information,” she said. “And if we don't have it, we will try to get it for them.”

Tucker scans credible sources to share information that can help people “cut through the noise.”

And, she says, there is much more discussion on non-COVID matters.

“We are still here for the normal things – and people need that right now,” she said.

Tucker praised members for helping to police posts and flag inaccurate information.

“We are only as good as our members,” she said.