Message sharing and verification behaviour on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study in the context of India and the USA

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anumegha Sharma ◽  
Payal S. Kapoor
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Study Finding ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Positive Polarity ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Message Type

PurposeTechnology has eased access to information. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, ease of access and transmission of information via social media has led to ambiguity, misinformation and uncertainty. This research studies the aforementioned behaviours of information sharing and verification related to COVID-19, in the context of social media.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies have been carried out. Study 1, with Indian social media users, is a two-factor between-subjects experimental design that investigated the effect of message polarity (positive versus negative) and message type (news versus rumour) on the dissemination and verification behaviour of COVID-19-related messages. The study also investigated the mediation of perceived message importance and health anxiety. Study 2 is a replica study conducted with US users.FindingsThe study finding revealed significantly higher message sharing for news than rumour. Further, for the Indian users, message with positive polarity led to higher message sharing and message with negative polarity led to higher verification behaviour. On the contrary, for the US users, message with negative polarity led to higher message sharing and message with positive polarity led to higher verification behaviour. Finally, the study revealed message importance mediates the relationship of message type and message sharing behaviour for Indian and US users; however, health anxiety mediation was significant only for Indian users.Practical implicationsThe findings offer important implications related to information regulation during a health crisis. Unverified information sharing is harmful during a pandemic. The study sheds light on this behaviour such that stakeholders get insights and better manage the information being disseminated.Originality/valueThe study investigates the behaviour of sharing and verification of social media messages between users containing health information (news and rumour) related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-07-2020-0282

Health information communication during a pandemic crisis: analysis of CDC Facebook Page during COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Yeon Syn
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Emergency Situation ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Crisis Situation ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeThis study investigates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Facebook Page to examine what kinds of information is shared to public using Facebook and how Facebook users share and engage with information during a health crisis situation with a case of the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachUsing Facebook Graph API, CDC's Facebook Page posts and users' engagement and reactions for six months from January to June 2020 were collected and analyzed. The posts were categorized into five categories. Users' engagement and reactions include share, comment, like, love, haha, wow, sad and angry.FindingsThe findings show that the type of posts have significant association with COVID-19 situation and the level of users' engagement and reactions differs significantly when COVID-19 related information is shared. The findings show that users become more active during health emergency situation. The results provided an insight into how different types of posts gain users' attention and motivation to interact.Originality/valueThis study investigates the use of social media during a national health crisis situation. While literature provides the use of social media during emergency and crisis cases, as health crisis situation is unique in that the boundary of time and location as well as people's daily life, the findings of this study provide an insight into how health authorities could communicate with the public during a health crisis situation.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-09-2020-0416

The role of social influencers for effective public health communication

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiromani Gupta ◽  
Satya Bhusan Dash ◽  
Rachna Mahajan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Persuasive Communication ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Health Related

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to explore the suitability of social media influencers (SMIs) for communicating public health messages via social media platforms. The study identifies key persuasive communication components that influence individuals' attitudes and, subsequently, intentions to follow health-related information shared by SMIs.Design/methodology/approachQualitative interviews with healthcare workers and interactions with 332 active social media users via structured online questionnaires were used for data collection. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse responses.FindingsResults indicate that SMIs' credibility, SMI–individual homophily and quality of information shared by the SMI are the significant factors determining individuals' attitudes towards the information received. Furthermore, the individual's attitude significantly impacts their intention to follow information shared by the SMI. The study thus verifies the mediating role of attitude in persuasive communication.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study can serve as a foundation for future work to examine the suitability of SMIs for tasks other than marketing.Practical implicationsThe study provides insights for planning and implementing SMI-sourced communication in the public health context. The study enhances the understanding of the tested relationships and thereby increases scholars' and practitioners' ability to leverage SMIs for health-related communication.Originality/valueWhilst SMIs are attracting increasing attention in consumer markets, the study suggests that they can be used in public health communication. Considering the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation, the empirical study provides insights into SMIs' role in persuasive public health communication amid a health crisis.Peer reviewThe peer review history for the article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-01-2021-0012

The influence of public health information sharing on social media during the early COVID-19 outbreak

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiao-Chieh Chen ◽  
Yu-Ping Chiu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Activity Effect ◽  
Network Cluster ◽  
Public Health Information ◽  
Health Information Sharing

PurposeSocial media have become famous platform to search and share the COVID-19-related information. The objective of this research is to bridge the gap by proposing the effects of network cluster and transmitter activity on information sharing process.Design/methodology/approachData were collected by using Facebook application, which was available for 14 days (May 1–14) in 2020. These data were analyzed to determine the influence of the network cluster and transmitter activity.FindingsThe results showed that network cluster is positively related to transmitter activity on social media. In addition, transmitter activity partially mediated the effect of network cluster on the extent of information liked and shared. That is, transmitter activity can affect COVID-19-related information sharing on Facebook, and the activity effect is plausible and should become stronger as social network become denser.Originality/valueThis study has contributed to the knowledge of health information sharing in social media and has generated new opportunities for research into the role of network cluster. As social media is firmly entrenched in society, researches that improve the experience or quality for users is potentially impactful.

Teacher trainees’ information sharing activities and identity positioning on Facebook

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fredrik Hanell
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Teacher Training ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Training Programme ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend the knowledge of how identity is connected to information sharing activities in social media during pre-school teacher training. Design/methodology/approach An ethnographic study is performed where 249 students at a Swedish pre-school teacher-training programme are followed through participant observations from November 2013 to January 2014, and from September 2014 to January 2015. The material produced includes 230 conversations from a Facebook Group used by 210 students and several teachers, field notes and transcribed interviews with nine students. Comparative analysis is used to analyse the Facebook conversations to identify ways of positioning identity and engaging in information sharing activities. Interviews with students are analysed to contextualise and validate the findings from the online interactions. Findings Three identity positions are identified: discussion-oriented learner, goal-oriented learner and customer-oriented learner. The way a student commits to others, to ideas and to a career choice affects their identity positions and information sharing activities. Results suggest that information sharing with social media should be understood as a powerful device for identity development in pre-school teacher training. Research limitations/implications This study is designed to provide detailed accounts with high validity on the expense of a high degree of representativeness. Originality/value No previous library and information science-studies have been presented that explore the relationship between the identity of learners and the information sharing activities in which they engage, in the context of social media or in relation to teacher training.

Can altmetric mentions predict later citations? A test of validity on data from ResearchGate and three social media platforms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumit Kumar Banshal ◽  
Vivek Kumar Singh ◽  
Pranab Kumar Muhuri
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Citation Window ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Academic Social Network ◽  
Citation Counts ◽  
Citation Advantage ◽  
Analyze Data

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to explore and validate the question “whether altmetric mentions can predict citations to scholarly articles”. The paper attempts to explore the nature and degree of correlation between altmetrics (from ResearchGate and three social media platforms) and citations.Design/methodology/approachA large size data sample of scholarly articles published from India for the year 2016 is obtained from the Web of Science database and the corresponding altmetric data are obtained from ResearchGate and three social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook and blog through Altmetric.com aggregator). Correlations are computed between early altmetric mentions and later citation counts, for data grouped in different disciplinary groups.FindingsResults show that the correlation between altmetric mentions and citation counts are positive, but weak. Correlations are relatively higher in the case of data from ResearchGate as compared to the data from the three social media platforms. Further, significant disciplinary differences are observed in the degree of correlations between altmetrics and citations.Research limitations/implicationsThe results support the idea that altmetrics do not necessarily reflect the same kind of impact as citations. However, articles that get higher altmetric attention early may actually have a slight citation advantage. Further, altmetrics from academic social networks like ResearchGate are more correlated with citations, as compared to social media platforms.Originality/valueThe paper has novelty in two respects. First, it takes altmetric data for a window of about 1–1.5 years after the article publication and citation counts for a longer citation window of about 3–4 years after the publication of article. Second, it is one of the first studies to analyze data from the ResearchGate platform, a popular academic social network, to understand the type and degree of correlations.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-11-2019-0364

scholarly journals Analisis Sentimen Terhadap Kandidat Presiden Republik Indonesia Pada Pemilu 2019 di Media Sosial Twitter

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 405
Author(s):  
Cahyo Prianto ◽  
Nisa Hanum Harani ◽  
Indra Firmansyah
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Internet Technology ◽  
Behavior Patterns ◽  
Positive Polarity ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Average Value ◽  
A Value ◽  
Tweet Classification

The development of technology today has been growing rapidly and has an impact on the behavior patterns of people who feel it. The Ministry of Communication and Information (KOMINFO) released a data that of 265 million people of Indonesia, there are around 54% have used internet technology or about 143 million people. In one survey IDN Research Institute said that there are three Social Media that are widely used in Indonesia, namely Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This study focuses on extracting data in the form of text produced from social media twitter that responds to the account of the RI presidential candidates in the 2019 elections. Sentiment analysis is obtained through tweet classification using sentiment analysis tools such as NRC Lexicon and Bing Lexicon so that information is obtained in the form of positive polarity and negative polarity from community tweets towards the Presidential candidates in the 2019 elections. Using March data before the 2019 election, for candidate 01 Joko Widodo, the NRC Lexicon analysis gave a value of 249 and bing lexicon of 267 with an average value of 0.11, while for candidate 02 Prabowo Subianto the NRC Lexicon analysis gave a value of 195 and bing lexicon of 204 with an average value of 0.085. Using april data after the 2019 election. Candidate 01 Joko Widodo still received a lot of responses from netizens but the sentiment value shifted more negatively compared to candidate 02 Prabowo Subianto. For candidate 01 Joko Widodo the NRC Lexicon analysis gave a value of 17 and bing lexicon of -273 with an average value of -0,246, while for candidate 02 Prabowo Subianto the NRC Lexicon analysis gave a value of 238 and bing lexicon of -73 with an average value of -0.02430939.

scholarly journals Sentiment Analysis of Imran Khan’s Tweets

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-494
Author(s):  
Sadia Saeed ◽  
Tehseen Zahra ◽  
Asim Ali Fayyaz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Positive Polarity ◽  
Negative Polarity Items ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
Computer Scientists ◽  
The Face ◽  
Negative Face

In the recent past, sentiment analysis has been an area of interests of psychologists, sociologists, neurologists, computer scientists, and linguists including corpus linguists and computational linguists. Interdisciplinary approaches to researching various issues especially the analysis of social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are becoming popular nowadays. The availability of data on social media has made it easier to analyse the opinion or sentiments of its users. Analysis of these sentiments could reveal the face of users and it could help in various decision-making processes. Sentiment analysis is a system of knowing polarity (positive, negative, and neutral) in discourse. Moreover, sentiments can enable and disable certain functions of discourse and can divert the attention of the audience from important to a less important issue or otherwise, hence, there is a need to analyse the sentiments. In this research, sentiments (Polarity) of Imran Khan’s tweets are analysed with the help of R studio. Data for this study is collected from Imran Khan’s one-year’s tweets, tweeted from 1st January 2018 to 20th November 2018. Later we saved the data in. csv files. The results of the polarity check revealed that he has used all three types of sentiments that is positive, negative, and neutral. However, he mostly used neutral or free polarity items (FPIs) that is 67.41% in his tweets. Among positive and negative polarity items the number of negative polarity items (NPIs) is higher that is 23.21% as compared to positive polarity items (PPIs) which are only 9.40%. The manual analysis of results revealed that only software is not enough and there is a need to check the accuracy of the results manually. The use of negative polarity/negative face reveals that he tries to be independent and autonomous in his decisions (Goffman, 1967). The use of positive polarity items shows he tries to show his positive face to others. Moreover, sentiment analysis demonstrates the presence of themes propagated through the use of various lexical items.

An exploration of the leadership strategies of Facebook community leaders

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tali Gazit ◽  
Jenny Bronstein
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Leadership Behavior ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Community Leaders ◽  
Leadership Strategies ◽  
Social Spaces ◽  
Leadership Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leadership Research

PurposeUnderstanding leadership in newly created online social spaces, such Facebook communities, is an important new area of study within leadership research. This study explores an existing leadership model in offline environments by analyzing leadership strategies used by Facebook community leaders.Design/methodology/approachBy using both quantitative and qualitative methods, data were collected through a survey from 94 Facebook community leaders about their leadership strategies.FindingsFindings show that the framework of leadership behavior in offline groups can also be observed in Facebook communities. The content analysis of the open-ended questions reveals new categories reflecting unique leadership strategies in online environments. Leaders that participated in the study focused on strategies of content and team management, provided their groups with relevant content and personal stories to engage their members and strived to lead both offline and online-related social spaces to build a sense of community.Originality/valueThe growing number of Facebook community leaders and their key role in social media communities raise new questions about their position in light of what is already known about traditional leadership. Since social media occupies a central place in almost every aspect in everyday life, understanding the way that leaders manage these online communities is ever more important, and it can lead to an advancement in online communications.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-01-2020-0034.

Customer experience with the branded content: a social media perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Waqas ◽  
Zalfa Laili Hamzah ◽  
Noor Akma Mohd Salleh
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Customer Experience ◽  
Customer Engagement ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Media Platforms

PurposeSocial media platforms are important channels to create a favourable customer experience. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the types of experiences customers can have with the branded content on social media.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 20 participants using semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data.FindingsThe results identify seven types of branded content experience which are evoked when customers interact with branded content on social media. The results also suggest that branded content experience acts as a driver of consumer engagement with branded content which eventually leads to customers' sense of virtual community.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings provide theoretical implications for content creators. Further research should aim at comparing the branded content experience on different social media platforms and across different product categories.Originality/valueThis study contributes to customer engagement and experience literature in social media content by enhancing the understanding of branded content experience concept and its conceptual relationship with customer engagement in the social media context.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-10-2019-0333

Users’ health information sharing intention in strong ties social media: context of emerging markets

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Zhang ◽  
Wen Lin ◽  
Zhen Ma ◽  
Jun Yang ◽  
Yan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sharing Value ◽  
Health Information Sharing

PurposeThis paper aims to theorize and examine how central cognition elaboration cue and peripheral cognition elaboration cue influence users’ health information sharing intention in Strong ties social media (STSM) in emerging markets.Design/methodology/approachThis paper innovatively proposes two concepts of health information emotion and health information sharing value based on the in-depth observation of users’ social health behavior. We integrate Elaboration Likelihood Model, Media Richness Theory, Trust Theory and Regulatory Focus Theory to develop hypotheses and research models and lay emphasis on the study of health information emotion’s moderating effect. This paper conducts an empirical study by selecting 372 health information users of WeChat, a typical STSM, to verify the research model by structural equation model.FindingsFor the central route, individual motivation and health information richness positively influence health information sharing value. For peripheral route, health information source trust and health information recipient trust both positively influence the health information sharing attitude. Health information sharing value and sharing attitude can positively affect users’ health information sharing intention. In addition, health information positive emotion has significant moderating effect, while health information negative emotion does not have.Originality/valueThis study contributes to a comprehensive perspective for understanding users’ health information sharing intention in STSM in emerging markets, an important but understudied topic. The results can also give implications for researchers to explore users’ behavioral intention from the perspective of process-oriented persuasion and health information emotion’s moderating effect.

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