From myth‐busting to inoculation: a worked example in flood safety communication

Inoculation theory is a long‐studied communication strategy for building resistance to influence. Weather myth‐busting often already does part of the work of inoculation by raising and refuting myths. This short article considers #MythBusterMonday, a social media initiative from the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in State College, Pennsylvania (USA), as an example of this close fit. It argues that existing corrective messages can be strengthened with relatively little added work by more explicitly preparing people for misleading weather claims. A worked example focused on flood safety shows how a message can move beyond correcting misinformation toward pre‐emptive inoculation.