Social media is often blamed for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, but one Whangārei teenager is making sure the right message gets out to his community.
Ben Woodgates, 18, shares everything Northlanders need to know about COVID to over 12,000 followers on Facebook.
He started posting news to his own social media in early 2020 and created the page COVID-19 Northland after he realised there was a gap in knowledge surrounding COVID in his community.
"I realised that most people had no idea what was going on," Woodgates told the AM show.
Now Woodgates shares the daily figures, new local Locations of Interest and everything else Northlanders need to know to his growing Facebook page.
He says it can be difficult for the public to find COVID information because it is spread across multiple agencies including the Ministry of Health, Northland DHB and Civil Defence Northland.
"I collate all of that and put it in one post of what Northlanders need to know," Woodgates said.
"It's quite a big job."
He noticed there are discrepancies between information different organisations are reporting most days now, so it can be hard to know how many new cases there actually are.
His page has become a place where people can ask any questions they have, particularly since the Northland DHB has its comment sections turned off
Woodgates recently graduated from Whangārei Boys' High School and is about to start a Bachelor of Communications at The University of Waikato.
