Does Scientific Publication Inform Public Discourse? A Case Study Observing Social Media Engagement Around Vaccinations

2020 ◽  
pp. 152483991989992
Author(s):  
Jordan L. Nelon ◽  
Michael Moscarelli ◽  
Payton Stupka ◽  
Christina Sumners ◽  
Taylor Uselton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Scientific Publication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Public Health Information

In the early 2000s, there was a shift in the use of the internet. Individuals on the internet began seeking information from other creators and creating their own content. These online communities allowed individuals to communicate across the globe, gravitating toward people like them or those who shared similar beliefs. Conversations around vaccinations have been particularly polarizing across social media even though scientific literature continually validates their safety and effectiveness. This study will explore whether online public discourse about vaccinations changes before and after major scientific publications, and will measure what is related to social engagement around vaccinations on Twitter. In September 2018, two weeks’ worth of Twitter posts ( n = 2,919) discussing vaccinations were collected, coded, and analyzed before and after two major 2014 scientific publications. Linear regression analyses examined variables related to engagement with vaccination-related Tweets pre- and postpublication. Antivaccine-related Tweets decreased by over 25% after scientific publications, while provaccine Tweets increased by 16.6%. Regression models suggest verification status and number of followers were the strongest predictors of Twitter engagement. Findings indicate that scientific publications might affect what people public health information people share online, and how people engage with online content. In a time when false information is easily spread online, this study suggests the need for continual scientific publication on “hot topics,” and urges researchers to partner with influential individuals on social media to disseminate effective, evidence-based, and user-friendly public health information to the public.

scholarly journals Public health information and statistics dissemination efforts for Indonesia on the Internet

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Febiana Hanani ◽  
Takashi Kobayashi ◽  
Eitetsu Jo ◽  
Sawako Nakajima ◽  
Hiroshi Oyama
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Information ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Public Health Information

scholarly journals Association Between What People Learned About COVID-19 Using Web Searches and Their Behavior Toward Public Health Guidelines: Empirical Infodemiology Study (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikpe Justice Akpan ◽  
Obianuju Genevieve Aguolu ◽  
Yawo Mamoua Kobara ◽  
Rouzbeh Razavi ◽  
Asuama A Akpan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Principal Components ◽  
Predictive Models ◽  
Conspiracy Theory ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Web Searches ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Health Measures

BACKGROUND The use of the internet and web-based platforms to obtain public health information and manage health-related issues has become widespread in this digital age. The practice is so pervasive that the first reaction to obtaining health information is to “Google it.” As SARS-CoV-2 broke out in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and quickly spread worldwide, people flocked to the internet to learn about the novel coronavirus and the disease, COVID-19. Lagging responses by governments and public health agencies to prioritize the dissemination of information about the coronavirus outbreak through the internet and the World Wide Web and to build trust gave room for others to quickly populate social media, online blogs, news outlets, and websites with misinformation and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in people’s deviant behaviors toward public health safety measures. OBJECTIVE The goals of this study were to determine what people learned about the COVID-19 pandemic through web searches, examine any association between what people learned about COVID-19 and behavior toward public health guidelines, and analyze the impact of misinformation and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s behavior toward public health measures. METHODS This infodemiology study used Google Trends’ worldwide search index, covering the first 6 months after the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak (January 1 to June 30, 2020) when the public scrambled for information about the pandemic. Data analysis employed statistical trends, correlation and regression, principal component analysis (PCA), and predictive models. RESULTS The PCA identified two latent variables comprising past coronavirus epidemics (pastCoVepidemics: keywords that address previous epidemics) and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (presCoVpandemic: keywords that explain the ongoing pandemic). Both principal components were used significantly to learn about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 and explained 88.78% of the variability. Three principal components fuelled misinformation about COVID-19: misinformation (keywords “biological weapon,” “virus hoax,” “common cold,” “COVID-19 hoax,” and “China virus”), conspiracy theory 1 (ConspTheory1; keyword “5G” or “@5G”), and conspiracy theory 2 (ConspTheory2; keyword “ingest bleach”). These principal components explained 84.85% of the variability. The principal components represent two measurements of public health safety guidelines—public health measures 1 (PubHealthMes1; keywords “social distancing,” “wash hands,” “isolation,” and “quarantine”) and public health measures 2 (PubHealthMes2; keyword “wear mask”)—which explained 84.7% of the variability. Based on the PCA results and the log-linear and predictive models, ConspTheory1 (keyword “@5G”) was identified as a predictor of people’s behavior toward public health measures (PubHealthMes2). Although correlations of misinformation (keywords “COVID-19,” “hoax,” “virus hoax,” “common cold,” and more) and ConspTheory2 (keyword “ingest bleach”) with PubHealthMes1 (keywords “social distancing,” “hand wash,” “isolation,” and more) were <i>r</i>=0.83 and <i>r</i>=–0.11, respectively, neither was statistically significant (<i>P</i>=.27 and <i>P</i>=.13, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Several studies focused on the impacts of social media and related platforms on the spreading of misinformation and conspiracy theories. This study provides the first empirical evidence to the mainly anecdotal discourse on the use of web searches to learn about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.

scholarly journals 259 Online social media platforms and public health information: and exploration into arthritis related videos on YouTube in 2017

Rheumatology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Heron ◽  
Amy Curran ◽  
Osman H Ahmed ◽  
Jem Lawson ◽  
Lara Chapman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
Public Health Information ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Twitter jako źródło wiedzy o stanie zdrowia polskiego społeczeństwa – ujęcie infodemiologiczne.

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (49) ◽  
pp. 120-0
Author(s):  
Agata Malesińska
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Public Health Information ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
Novel Concept ◽  
Insight Into

Article explores a novel concept of mining social media for information on public health (infodemiology) and provides insight into chosen results of original research covering random tweets by Polish Twitter users. Author asks what public health information can be learned from “Polish Twitter” and whether the collected data might be a valuable and reliable starting point for a broader analysis of Polish public health.

Japanese-language videos on YouTube as a source of public health information for COVID-19 (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeo Yasu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
The State ◽  
Video Content ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Public Health Information ◽  
Youtube Videos ◽  
Spread Of Infection

BACKGROUND Serious public health problems, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can cause an infodemic. Sources of information that may cause an infodemic include social networking services; YouTube, which consists of content created and uploaded by individuals, is one such source. OBJECTIVE To survey the content and changes in YouTube videos that present public health information about COVID-19 in Japan. METHODS We surveyed YouTube content regarding public health information pertaining to COVID-19 in Japan. YouTube searches were performed on March 6, 2020 (before the state of emergency), April 14 (during the state of emergency), and May 27 (after the state of emergency was lifted), with 136, 113, and 140 sample videos evaluated, respectively. The main outcome measures were: (1) The total number of views for each video, (2) video content, and (3) the usefulness of the video. RESULTS In the 100 most viewed YouTube videos during the three periods, the number of videos on public health information in March was significantly higher than in May (p = .02). Of the 331 unique videos, 9.1% (n = 30) were released by healthcare professionals. Useful videos providing public health information about the prevention of the spread of infection comprised only 13.0% of the sample but were viewed significantly more often than not useful videos (p = .006). CONCLUSIONS Individuals need to take care when obtaining information from YouTube before or early in a pandemic, during which time scientific evidence is scarce.

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