scholarly journals An empirical analysis of what people learned about COVID-19 through a web search and the impacts on misinformation and attitude towards public health safety guidelines.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikpe Justice Akpan ◽  
Obianuju Genevieve Aguolu ◽  
Asuama A. Akpan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Web Search ◽  
Online News ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Health Safety ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Google Search ◽  
Safety Guidelines

Several people flocked to the Internet to learn about the SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 after the outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As the novel coronavirus spread rapidly worldwide and was declared a global pandemic, the public rushed to Internet platforms to learn about the outbreak through Google search, online news outlets, and social media platforms. This paper evaluates the public's web search to learn about the pandemic and the possible impacts on attitude to the public health guidelines. The results highlight four outcomes: First, a significant global population learned about the ongoing pandemic through a web search. Second, there is a direct correlation between learning SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, and SARS-CoV and searching for information on public health measures (wearing a facial mask and social distancing). Third, learning conspiracy theories or misinformation correspond with a lack of interest in gaining knowledge about public health safety guidelines. Also, the initial high interest in learning about Influenza declined as people gained information about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. The results highlight the critical need to promptly sensitize the public about global health concerns using both the Internet platforms and traditional sources, adopt effective health communication strategies, and build trust.

The role of the internet in suicide prevention from the public health perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 683-698
Author(s):  
Michael Westerlund ◽  
Karolina Krysinska
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Media Platforms

An overview of research on suicide and the internet, as well as the practical applications of online interventions in suicide prevention efforts is given. The text presents how much material about suicide is available online and what are the contents, with a special focus on pro-suicide and harmful online material and communication, and how people at risk of suicide use the internet. The topic of advantages and dangers of suicide-related material available on social media platforms will be covered. The range and effectiveness of online and web-based crisis interventions are discussed, along with support available online for people bereaved by suicide. The text also presents existing efforts on regulation and legislation in relation to suicide-related websites and content.

scholarly journals Coronavirus-related online web search desire amidst the rising novel coronavirus incidence in Ethiopia: Google Trends-based infodemiology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behailu Terefe ◽  
Alessandro Rovetta ◽  
Asha K Rajan ◽  
Mengist Awoke
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Web Search ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
The Public ◽  
Corona Virus ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Google Search ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Online Web

Abstract Background: During outbreaks, like novel coronavirus (COVID 19) disease pandemic, social communication and behaviors are very important. Under such circumstances, individual activities in social media and other online platforms will increase tremendously resulting in the circulation of information in the community. These pieces of information can be infodemic monikers misleading the community. Thus exploring the trends of public interest in searching COVID 19 related issues and checking information circulating in the public is highly crucial. Objective: This study aimed to explore users' concerns towards coronavirus related online web search and to investigate the extent of infodemic monikers (misinformation) adopted for identifying the virus in the early stage of COVID 19 spread in Ethiopia. Methods: Google Trends was employed in exploring the tendency towards coronavirus related web search activities in Ethiopia from March 13 to May 8, 2020. Keywords of the different names of COVID 19 and health related issues were used to investigate the trends of public interest in searching from Google over time. Relative search volume (RSV), Average peak comparison (APC), and associated graphs were used to compare the trends of online search interests. Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to check for the presence of correlation. Result: During the study period, the top names users adopted to identify the virus in Ethiopia were corona, virus, coronavirus, corona virus, China coronavirus, and COVID 19. In almost all search activities, the users employed infodemic monikers to identify the virus (overall relative search percentage of 99%). Updates related issues (APC=60, 95% CI, 55, 66) were the most commonly trending health related searches on Google followed by mortality (APC=27, 95% CI, 24, 30) and symptoms (APC=55, 95% CI, 50, 60) related issues. The regional comparison showed the highest cumulative peak for the Oromia region (cumulative total RSVs, 536) followed by the Tigray region (cumulative total RSVs, 512) on querying health related information from Google. No significant correlation was detected between COVID 19 cases per region/city and the maximum peaks of health related searches. Conclusion: This study revealed an initial increase in the public interest of COVID 19 related Google search, but this interest was declined over time. Tremendous circulation of infodemic monikers for the identification of the virus was also noticed in the country. The authors recommend for the government and other stakeholders to work immensely to keep the people alert on coronavirus-related issues and to promote the official names of the virus, like COVID 19, SARS CoV 2 in the public to decrease the circulation of misleading and misinformation amid the outbreak. Keywords: Coronavirus, infodemiology, infodemic monikers; Google Trends, Ethiopia

scholarly journals The Role of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Outbreak Maps on the Internet in the Prediction and Early Warning of Infectious Diseases

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
yufang Cao ◽  
Rui Qiu ◽  
Chao Ji ◽  
Zhidian Wu ◽  
Yijun Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Multiple Organ ◽  
Current Control ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Public ◽  
Epidemic Area ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Abstract BackgroundA novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) has attracted worldwide attention since December 2019 when it appeared in Wuhan, China. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can cause respiratory distress syndrome or multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and be life-threatening. Covid-19 incidence can be reduced by using an outbreak map based on Geoinformatics. MethodsThis article introduces geographic mapping on the Internet and uses epidemic maps such as rank circles, choropleth rendering, overlay analysis and animation and other technologies to guide people’s behavior, reduce entry into areas with severe epidemics, and prevent new crowd infections. ResultsBy using various epidemic maps, households can reduce the access of people to the epidemic area (especially travellers to potentially at-risk areas), reduce the possibility of COVID-19 infection, and facilitate the timely diagnosis and treatment of fevered patients or suspected COVID-19. In addition, public health managers can intuitively understand the dynamics of the epidemic and spatial analysis of trends in outbreak dynamics and COVID-19 patterns helped to assist the public health sector and to evaluate/revise current control measures. ConclusionThe purpose of these online epidemic data collect and visualize is to notify travellers and assist the public or to analyzing the spatial and current trends and patterns of COVID-19 for public health authorities in assessing/revising current control measures.

Opportunities for Qualitative Analysis of Social Media Platforms in Dietetic Research and Practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Meghan Lynch ◽  
Irena Knezevic ◽  
Kennedy Laborde Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Online News ◽  
News Article ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
The Public ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Article Comment

To date, most qualitative knowledge about individual eating patterns and the food environment has been derived from traditional data collection methods, such as interviews, focus groups, and observations. However, there currently exists a large source of nutrition-related data in social media discussions that have the potential to provide opportunities to improve dietetic research and practice. Qualitative social media discussion analysis offers a new tool for dietetic researchers and practitioners to gather insights into how the public discusses various nutrition-related topics. We first consider how social media discussion data come with significant advantages including low-cost access to timely ways to gather insights from the public, while also cautioning that social media data have limitations (e.g., difficulty verifying demographic information). We then outline 3 types of social media discussion platforms in particular: (i) online news article comment sections, (ii) food and nutrition blogs, and (iii) discussion forums. We discuss how each different type of social media offers unique insights and provide a specific example from our own research using each platform. We contend that social media discussions can contribute positively to dietetic research and practice.

Italian operators' response to the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-31
Author(s):  
Massimo Candela ◽  
Antonio Prado
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Internet Usage ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Market Conditions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Online Activities ◽  
Internet Network

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments introduced several social restrictions. As of 18 March 2020, more than 250 million people were in lockdown in Europe. This drastically increased the number of online activities. Due to this unprecedented situation, some concerns arose about the suitability of the Internet network to sustain the increased usage. Italy was severely hit by the first wave of the pandemic and various regions underwent a lockdown before the main country-wide one. The Italian network operators started sharing information about improvements carried out on the network and new measures adopted to support the increase in Internet usage. In this report, by means of a questionnaire, we collect information and provide a quantitative overview of the actions undertaken by network operators in Italy. The attitude of Italian operators was synergic and proactive in supporting the changed market conditions caused by the public health emergency.

Evidence of an Open Government Data Portal Impact on the Public Sphere

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Pedro Lourenço
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Open Government ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Public ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Google Search ◽  
The Impact

Data portals are being created as part of open government strategies to increase transparency. But although the potential of the internet to increase transparency (as data disclosure) has been widely considered in the literature, there is no reported evidence of any of the released data actually being used by their ultimate recipients (citizens) for public accountability purposes. This descriptive research effort aims to find evidence of the impact of open government portals, asserting whether data is indeed being used and for what purposes. One contract portal was selected and Google Search was used to find portal references on the internet. A qualitative content analysis approach was adopted, whereby references were examined with respect to its main purpose and data usage. Evidence was found of contract data being used, among others, to identify possible situations of corruption, nepotism and misusage of public resources, support argumentation on public policy debates and, in general, to hold public officials accountable in the public sphere through ‘blame and shame' sanctions.

Curating the Evidence About COVID-19 for Frontline Public Health and Clinical Care: The Novel Coronavirus Research Compendium

2021 ◽  
pp. 003335492110587
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Redd ◽  
Lauren S. Peetluk ◽  
Brooke A. Jarrett ◽  
Colleen Hanrahan ◽  
Sheree Schwartz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Successful Model ◽  
Medical Response ◽  
Public Consumption ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The public health crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a deluge of scientific research aimed at informing the public health and medical response to the pandemic. However, early in the pandemic, those working in frontline public health and clinical care had insufficient time to parse the rapidly evolving evidence and use it for decision-making. Academics in public health and medicine were well-placed to translate the evidence for use by frontline clinicians and public health practitioners. The Novel Coronavirus Research Compendium (NCRC), a group of >60 faculty and trainees across the United States, formed in March 2020 with the goal to quickly triage and review the large volume of preprints and peer-reviewed publications on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 and summarize the most important, novel evidence to inform pandemic response. From April 6 through December 31, 2020, NCRC teams screened 54 192 peer-reviewed articles and preprints, of which 527 were selected for review and uploaded to the NCRC website for public consumption. Most articles were peer-reviewed publications (n = 395, 75.0%), published in 102 journals; 25.1% (n = 132) of articles reviewed were preprints. The NCRC is a successful model of how academics translate scientific knowledge for practitioners and help build capacity for this work among students. This approach could be used for health problems beyond COVID-19, but the effort is resource intensive and may not be sustainable in the long term.

Digital Behavioral Criminalistics to Elucidate the Cyber Pathway to Intended Violence

2021 ◽  
pp. 554-611
Author(s):  
Cameron H. Malin
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Evidence ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
The Public ◽  
Online Technologies ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Predatory Violence ◽  
Social Messaging

With the vast advances in computer, mobile, and online technologies, visibility into an offender’s thought processes and decision-making trajectory has been markedly enhanced. Digital behavioral artifacts, or digital evidence “breadcrumbs” of an offender’s behaviors, are now often left in publicly accessible locations on the Internet—such as social media platforms and social messaging applications—and in locations not privy to the public—such as the offender’s devices. Importantly, early seminal literature introduced and described examining an offender’s actions as series of steps along a path of threat escalation, or “pathway.” The totality of these emerging digital behavioral artifacts allows investigators to piece together an offender’s behavioral mosaic at a much more intimate and granular level, warranting a revised pathway—the cyber pathway to intended violence (CPIV)—that captures the thoughts and actions of an offender leading up to an act of deliberative, predatory violence. This chapter introduces the emerging discipline of Digital Behavioral Criminalistics and how this process can meaningfully be used by threat assessors to elucidate an offender’s steps on the CPIV.

scholarly journals Lessons earned and lessons learned: What should be done next to counter the COVID-19 infodemic?

European View ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-163
Author(s):  
Nad’a Kovalčíková ◽  
Ariane Tabatabai
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Crisis ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
The World ◽  
Information Manipulation ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

As governments and citizens around the world have struggled with the novel coronavirus, the information space has turned into a battleground. Authoritarian countries, including Russia, China and Iran, have spread disinformation on the causes of and responses to the pandemic. The over-abundance of information, also referred to as an ‘infodemic’, including manipulated information, has been both a cause and a result of the exacerbation of the public health crisis. It is further undermining trust in democratic institutions, the independent press, and facts and data, and exacerbating the rising tensions driven by economic, political and societal challenges. This article discusses the challenges democracies have faced and the measures they have adopted to counter information manipulation that impedes public health efforts. It draws seven lessons learned from the information war and offers a set of recommendations on tackling future infodemics related to public health.

scholarly journals Nowcasting Mobile Games Ranking Using Web Search Query Data

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoones A. Sekhavat
Keyword(s):  
Computer Games ◽  
Web Search ◽  
Computer Game ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Search Query ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Mobile Games ◽  
Internet Behavior ◽  
Google Search

In recent years, the Internet has become embedded into the purchasing decision of consumers. The purpose of this paper is to study whether the Internet behavior of users correlates with their actual behavior in computer games market. Rather than proposing the most accurate model for computer game sales, we aim to investigate to what extent web search query data can be exploited to nowcast (contraction of “now” and “forecasting” referring to techniques used to make short-term forecasts) (predict the present status of) the ranking of mobile games in the world. Google search query data is used for this purpose, since this data can provide a real-time view on the topics of interest. Various statistical techniques are used to show the effectiveness of using web search query data to nowcast mobile games ranking.

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