  As the COVID19 pandemic has spread across the world, a concurrent pandemic of
information has spread with it. Deemed an infodemic by the World Health
Organization, and described as an overabundance of information, some accurate,
some not, that occurs during an epidemic, this proliferation of data, research
and opinions provides both opportunities and challenges for academics.
Academics and scientists have a key role to play in the solutions to the
infodemic challenge: as educators, influences and communicators, even where
their expertise and experience does not align precisely with the SARS-Cov2
virus and its impacts.
  Successful communication requires a better understanding of how the public
seeks, understands and processes scientific information, however, in order to
maximise the ways in which experts engage with traditional and social media and
to make sure that such engagement does not add to confusion and misinformation
alongside efforts to counter or challenge it. This paper will outline the key
advantages to be had from greater engagement with COVID19 discussions, the
popular channels through which such discussions take place and through which
information is disseminated. It also warns against the common pitfalls those
who choose to engage might encounter, whilst stressing that the disadvantages
of doing so are far outweighed by the advantages such engagement offers.
