august, 2019 | The Health
Exclusive
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The team was recognised as ‘Vaccine
Hero’ for their efforts on the advocacy for
vaccination.
Each of us have our
own social media which
contribute to a few
thousand followers.
We have seven top
members and we do have
our annual meetings.
Honestly, M3 is just a
bunch of friends who
came together to do
something they enjoy.”
– Dr Firdaus
I am sure this myth will circulate again in one to two
years. Therefore, we want the public to learn what not
to trust on social media,” he says hopefully.
Followers aplenty
So who are the active readers of M3? According to
Dr Firdaus, the demographic is between 25 to 40 years
old and are mostly women. They currently have a fol-
lowing of 196K followers on their Facebook.
“Each of us have our own social media which con-
tribute to a few thousand followers. We have seven
top members and we do have our annual meetings.
Honestly, M3 is just a bunch of friends who came
together to do something they enjoy,” he smiles.
Bitter pill for some
However all is not sunshine and rainbows for this
team of mythbusters. In 2017, one of the members of
M3 - a pharmacist exposed a product which claimed it
could treat multiple ailments. The product was found
to contain steroid. Not long after the mythbusting, an
anonymous person messaged him a threat and a police
report had to be filed.
“Recently I gave a talk to a room full of dieticians.
They wanted me to guide them on how to be active on
social media in order to educate the public. I remember
at the end, I told them that this duty was not for just
anyone - there are legal issues, dealing with people who
are unhappy with what you say - there are a lot of things
pushing you down. Sometimes it’s exhausting but that’s
what’s great about a being a team. On days when I feel
down, someone else will take over my position - that’s
the nice thing about M3 ,” he confides.
What’s next for the mythbusters?
“Nowadays, we tend to go offline because we think there
is a segment that needs attention - uncles and aunties.
They don’t have access to social media. For now it’s just
the mosques. We had one event last year called ‘M3
Turun Padang’, where we give talks and home medica-
tion counselling. We are now getting more involved
in talks, television shows and are working with the
Ministry of Health because we believe that is the way
forward,” he concludes.
Now that you’ve read this, we too are hoping the
public will be more aware and conscious of every
‘miracle pill’ or ‘cancer curing tea’ that pops on your
social media. — The Health