scholarly journals Citizens’ Adherence to COVID-19 Mitigation Recommendations by the Government: A 3-Country Comparative Evaluation Using Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey Data

10.2196/20634 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. e20634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abrar Al-Hasan ◽  
Dobin Yim ◽  
Jiban Khuntia
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Comparative Evaluation ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ordered Probit ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Government

Background Social distancing is an effective preventative policy for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that is enforced by governments worldwide. However, significant variations are observed in following the policy across individuals and countries. Arguably, differences in citizens’ adherence actions will be influenced by their perceptions about government’s plans and the information available to guide their behaviors—more so in the digital age in the realm of mass influence of social media on citizens. Insights into the underlying factors and dynamics involved with citizens’ adherence process will inform the policy makers to follow appropriate communication and messaging approaches to influence citizens’ willingness to adhere to the recommendations. Objective The aim of this study is a comparative evaluation of citizens’ adherence process to COVID-19–relevant recommendations by the government. The focus is on how three different countries’ (United States, Kuwait, and South Korea) citizens, randomly sampled, respond to governments’ pandemic guidance efforts. We draw insights into two categories of perceived government roles in managing the pandemic: (1) citizens’ perceptions of government’s role in responding to the pandemic and (2) citizens’ perceptions of government’s business reopening efforts. Undoubtedly, the internet and social media have burgeoned, with differing effects on shaping individuals’ views and assessments of the COVID-19 situation; we argue and test for the effects of information sources, social media use, and knowledge on the adherence actions. Methods We randomly sampled web-based survey data collected by a global firm in May 2020 from citizens of the United States, Kuwait, and South Korea. A nonlinear ordered probit regression, controlling for several counterfactuals, was used for analysis. The focal estimated effects of the study were compared across countries using the weighted distance between the parameter estimates. Results The total sample size was 482 respondents, of which 207 (43%) lived in the United States, 181 (38%) lived in Kuwait, and 94 (20%) lived in South Korea. The ordered probit estimation results suggest that overall, perception of government response efforts positively influenced self-adherence (P<.001) and others’ adherence (P<.001) to social distancing and sheltering. Perception of government business reopening efforts positively influenced others’ adherence (P<.001). A higher intensity of general health information source for COVID-19 had a positive effect on self-adherence (P=.003). A higher intensity of social media source use for COVID-19 positively influenced others’ adherence (P=.002). A higher intensity of knowledge on COVID-19 positively influenced self-adherence (P=.008) and negatively influenced others’ adherence (P<.001). There were country-level variations—broadly, the United States and Kuwait had better effects than South Korea. Conclusions As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to grow and governmental restrictions are ongoing, it is critical to understand people’s frustration to reduce panic and promote social distancing to facilitate the control of the pandemic. This study finds that the government plays a central role in terms of adherence to restrictions. Governments need to enhance their efforts on publicizing information on the pandemic, as well as employ strategies for improved communication management to citizens through social media as well as mainstream information sources.

scholarly journals Citizens’ Adherence to COVID-19 Mitigation Recommendations by the Government: A 3-Country Comparative Evaluation Using Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey Data (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abrar Al-Hasan ◽  
Dobin Yim ◽  
Jiban Khuntia
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Comparative Evaluation ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ordered Probit ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Government

BACKGROUND Social distancing is an effective preventative policy for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that is enforced by governments worldwide. However, significant variations are observed in following the policy across individuals and countries. Arguably, differences in citizens’ adherence actions will be influenced by their perceptions about government’s plans and the information available to guide their behaviors—more so in the digital age in the realm of mass influence of social media on citizens. Insights into the underlying factors and dynamics involved with citizens’ adherence process will inform the policy makers to follow appropriate communication and messaging approaches to influence citizens’ willingness to adhere to the recommendations. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is a comparative evaluation of citizens’ adherence process to COVID-19–relevant recommendations by the government. The focus is on how three different countries’ (United States, Kuwait, and South Korea) citizens, randomly sampled, respond to governments’ pandemic guidance efforts. We draw insights into two categories of perceived government roles in managing the pandemic: (1) citizens’ perceptions of government’s role in responding to the pandemic and (2) citizens’ perceptions of government’s business reopening efforts. Undoubtedly, the internet and social media have burgeoned, with differing effects on shaping individuals’ views and assessments of the COVID-19 situation; we argue and test for the effects of information sources, social media use, and knowledge on the adherence actions. METHODS We randomly sampled web-based survey data collected by a global firm in May 2020 from citizens of the United States, Kuwait, and South Korea. A nonlinear ordered probit regression, controlling for several counterfactuals, was used for analysis. The focal estimated effects of the study were compared across countries using the weighted distance between the parameter estimates. RESULTS The total sample size was 482 respondents, of which 207 (43%) lived in the United States, 181 (38%) lived in Kuwait, and 94 (20%) lived in South Korea. The ordered probit estimation results suggest that overall, perception of government response efforts positively influenced self-adherence (<i>P</i>&lt;.001) and others’ adherence (<i>P</i>&lt;.001) to social distancing and sheltering. Perception of government business reopening efforts positively influenced others’ adherence (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). A higher intensity of general health information source for COVID-19 had a positive effect on self-adherence (<i>P</i>=.003). A higher intensity of social media source use for COVID-19 positively influenced others’ adherence (<i>P</i>=.002). A higher intensity of knowledge on COVID-19 positively influenced self-adherence (<i>P</i>=.008) and negatively influenced others’ adherence (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). There were country-level variations—broadly, the United States and Kuwait had better effects than South Korea. CONCLUSIONS As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to grow and governmental restrictions are ongoing, it is critical to understand people’s frustration to reduce panic and promote social distancing to facilitate the control of the pandemic. This study finds that the government plays a central role in terms of adherence to restrictions. Governments need to enhance their efforts on publicizing information on the pandemic, as well as employ strategies for improved communication management to citizens through social media as well as mainstream information sources.

scholarly journals Threat, Coping, and Social Distance Adherence During COVID-19: Cross-Continental Comparison Using an Online Cross-Sectional Survey

10.2196/23019 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. e23019
Author(s):  
Abrar Al-Hasan ◽  
Jiban Khuntia ◽  
Dobin Yim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Information Source ◽  
The United States ◽  
Seemingly Unrelated Regression ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Unrelated Regression ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Appraisal Processes

Background Social distancing is an effective preventative policy for COVID-19 that is enforced by governments worldwide. However, significant variations are observed in adherence to social distancing across individuals and countries. Due to the lack of treatment, rapid spread, and prevalence of COVID-19, panic and fear associated with the disease causes great stress. Subsequent effects will be a variation around the coping and mitigation strategies for different individuals following different paths to manage the situation. Objective This study aims to explore how threat and coping appraisal processes work as mechanisms between information and citizens’ adherence to COVID-19–related recommendations (ie, how the information sources and social media influence threat and coping appraisal processes with COVID-19 and how the threat and coping appraisal processes influence adherence to policy guidelines). In addition, this study aims to explore how citizens in three different countries (the United States, Kuwait, and South Korea), randomly sampled, are effectively using the mechanisms. Methods Randomly sampled online survey data collected by a global firm in May 2020 from 162 citizens of the United States, 185 of Kuwait, and 71 of South Korea were analyzed, resulting in a total sample size of 418. A seemingly unrelated regression model, controlling for several counterfactuals, was used for analysis. The study’s focal estimated effects were compared across the three countries using the weighted distance between the parameter estimates. Results The seemingly unrelated regression model estimation results suggested that, overall, the intensity of information source use for the COVID-19 pandemic positively influenced the threat appraisal for the disease (P<.001). Furthermore, the intensity of social media use for the COVID-19 pandemic positively influenced the coping appraisal for the disease (P<.001). Higher COVID-19 threat appraisal had a positive effect on social distancing adherence (P<.001). Higher COVID-19 coping appraisal had a positive effect on social distancing adherence (P<.001). Higher intensity of COVID-19 knowledge positively influenced social distancing adherence (P<.001). There were country-level variations. Broadly, we found that the United States had better results than South Korea and Kuwait in leveraging the information to threat and coping appraisal to the adherence process, indicating that individuals in countries like the United States and South Korea may be more pragmatic to appraise the situation before making any decisions. Conclusions This study’s findings suggest that the mediation of threat and coping strategies are essential, in varying effects, to shape the information and social media strategies for adherence outcomes. Accordingly, coordinating public service announcements along with information source outlets such as mainstream media (eg, TV and newspaper) as well as social media (eg, Facebook and Twitter) to inform citizens and, at the same time, deliver balanced messages about the threat and coping appraisal is critical in implementing a staggered social distancing and sheltering strategy.

scholarly journals Threat, Coping, and Social Distance Adherence During COVID-19: Cross-Continental Comparison Using an Online Cross-Sectional Survey (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abrar Al-Hasan ◽  
Jiban Khuntia ◽  
Dobin Yim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Information Source ◽  
The United States ◽  
Seemingly Unrelated Regression ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Unrelated Regression ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Appraisal Processes

BACKGROUND Social distancing is an effective preventative policy for COVID-19 that is enforced by governments worldwide. However, significant variations are observed in adherence to social distancing across individuals and countries. Due to the lack of treatment, rapid spread, and prevalence of COVID-19, panic and fear associated with the disease causes great stress. Subsequent effects will be a variation around the coping and mitigation strategies for different individuals following different paths to manage the situation. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore how threat and coping appraisal processes work as mechanisms between information and citizens’ adherence to COVID-19–related recommendations (ie, how the information sources and social media influence threat and coping appraisal processes with COVID-19 and how the threat and coping appraisal processes influence adherence to policy guidelines). In addition, this study aims to explore how citizens in three different countries (the United States, Kuwait, and South Korea), randomly sampled, are effectively using the mechanisms. METHODS Randomly sampled online survey data collected by a global firm in May 2020 from 162 citizens of the United States, 185 of Kuwait, and 71 of South Korea were analyzed, resulting in a total sample size of 418. A seemingly unrelated regression model, controlling for several counterfactuals, was used for analysis. The study’s focal estimated effects were compared across the three countries using the weighted distance between the parameter estimates. RESULTS The seemingly unrelated regression model estimation results suggested that, overall, the intensity of information source use for the COVID-19 pandemic positively influenced the threat appraisal for the disease (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). Furthermore, the intensity of social media use for the COVID-19 pandemic positively influenced the coping appraisal for the disease (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). Higher COVID-19 threat appraisal had a positive effect on social distancing adherence (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). Higher COVID-19 coping appraisal had a positive effect on social distancing adherence (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). Higher intensity of COVID-19 knowledge positively influenced social distancing adherence (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). There were country-level variations. Broadly, we found that the United States had better results than South Korea and Kuwait in leveraging the information to threat and coping appraisal to the adherence process, indicating that individuals in countries like the United States and South Korea may be more pragmatic to appraise the situation before making any decisions. CONCLUSIONS This study’s findings suggest that the mediation of threat and coping strategies are essential, in varying effects, to shape the information and social media strategies for adherence outcomes. Accordingly, coordinating public service announcements along with information source outlets such as mainstream media (eg, TV and newspaper) as well as social media (eg, Facebook and Twitter) to inform citizens and, at the same time, deliver balanced messages about the threat and coping appraisal is critical in implementing a staggered social distancing and sheltering strategy.

Lawyers as Activists

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Dorf ◽  
Michael S. Chu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Court Action ◽  
The Government ◽  
Trump Administration

Lawyers played a key role in challenging the Trump administration’s Travel Ban on entry into the United States of nationals from various majority-Muslim nations. Responding to calls from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which were amplified by social media, lawyers responded to the Travel Ban’s chaotic rollout by providing assistance to foreign travelers at airports. Their efforts led to initial court victories, which in turn led the government to soften the Ban somewhat in two superseding executive actions. The lawyers’ work also contributed to the broader resistance to the Trump administration by dramatizing its bigotry, callousness, cruelty, and lawlessness. The efficacy of the lawyers’ resistance to the Travel Ban shows that, contrary to strong claims about the limits of court action, litigation can promote social change. General lessons about lawyer activism in ordinary times are difficult to draw, however, because of the extraordinary threat Trump poses to civil rights and the rule of law.

scholarly journals “Wars” on COVID-19 in Slovakia, Russia, and the United States: Securitized Framing and Reframing of Political and Media Communication Around the Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta N. Lukacovic
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Research Question ◽  
The United States ◽  
Frame Element ◽  
Political Factions ◽  
Russian Media ◽  
The Government

This study analyzes securitized discourses and counter narratives that surround the COVID-19 pandemic. Controversial cases of security related political communication, salient media enunciations, and social media reframing are explored through the theoretical lenses of securitization and cascading activation of framing in the contexts of Slovakia, Russia, and the United States. The first research question explores whether and how the frame element of moral evaluation factors into the conversations on the securitization of the pandemic. The analysis tracks the framing process through elite, media, and public levels of communication. The second research question focused on fairly controversial actors— “rogue actors” —such as individuals linked to far-leaning political factions or militias. The proliferation of digital media provides various actors with opportunities to join publicly visible conversations. The analysis demonstrates that the widely differing national contexts offer different trends and degrees in securitization of the pandemic during spring and summer of 2020. The studied rogue actors usually have something to say about the pandemic, and frequently make some reframing attempts based on idiosyncratic evaluations of how normatively appropriate is their government's “war” on COVID-19. In Slovakia, the rogue elite actors at first failed to have an impact but eventually managed to partially contest the dominant frame. Powerful Russian media influencers enjoy some conspiracy theories but prudently avoid direct challenges to the government's frame, and so far only marginal rogue actors openly advance dissenting frames. The polarized political and media environment in the US has shown to create a particularly fertile ground for rogue grassroots movements that utilize online platforms and social media, at times going as far as encouragement of violent acts to oppose the government and its pandemic response policy.

Evolution of public sentiments during the COVID-19 pandemic: Case comparisons of India, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
May Oo Lwin ◽  
Anita Sheldenkar ◽  
Jiahui Lu ◽  
Peter Johannes Schulz ◽  
Wonsun Shin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
The United States ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Communication Space

BACKGROUND Public sentiments are an important indicator of crisis response, with the need to balance exigency without adding to panic or projecting overconfidence. Given the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, governments have enacted various nationwide measures against the disease with social media platforms providing the previously unparalleled communication space for the global populations. OBJECTIVE This study aims to examine and provide a macro-level narrative of the evolution of public sentiments on social media at national levels, by comparing Twitter data from India, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States during the current pandemic. METHODS Over 67,363,091 million Twitter posts on COVID-19 from 28 January 2020 to 28 April 2021 were analyzed from the five countries with "wuhan", "corona", "nCov", and "covid" as search keywords. Change in sentiments ("very negative", " negative", "neutral or mixed", "positive”, “very positive”) were compared between countries in connection with disease milestones and public health directives. RESULTS Country-specific assessments show that negative sentiments were predominant across all five countries during the initial period of the global pandemic. However, positive sentiments encompassing hope, resilience, and support arose at differing intensities across the five countries, particularly in Asian countries. In the next stage of the pandemic, India, Singapore, and South Korea faced escalating waves of COVID-19 cases, resulting in negative sentiments, but positive sentiments appeared simultaneously. In contrast, while UK and US negative sentiments increased sharply and dramatically after the declaration of a national public emergency, strong parallel positive sentiments were slow to surface. CONCLUSIONS Our findings on sentiments across countries facing similar outbreak concerns suggest potential associations between government response actions both in terms of policy and communications, and public sentiment trends. Overall, a more concerted approach of government crisis communication appears to be associated with more stable public sentiments balanced between positives and negatives over the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Identifying Influential Factors in the Discussion Dynamics of Emerging Health Issues on Social Media: Computational Study (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lida Safarnejad ◽  
Qian Xu ◽  
Yaorong Ge ◽  
Arunkumar Bagavathi ◽  
Siddharth Krishnan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Real World ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
The United States ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Influential Users

BACKGROUND Social media has become a major resource for observing and understanding public opinions using infodemiology and infoveillance methods, especially during emergencies such as disease outbreaks. For public health agencies, understanding the driving forces of web-based discussions will help deliver more effective and efficient information to general users on social media and the web. OBJECTIVE The study aimed to identify the major contributors that drove overall Zika-related tweeting dynamics during the 2016 epidemic. In total, 3 hypothetical drivers were proposed: (1) the underlying Zika epidemic quantified as a time series of case counts; (2) sporadic but critical real-world events such as the 2016 Rio Olympics and World Health Organization’s Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) announcement, and (3) a few influential users’ tweeting activities. METHODS All tweets and retweets (RTs) containing the keyword Zika posted in 2016 were collected via the Gnip application programming interface (API). We developed an analytical pipeline, EventPeriscope, to identify co-occurring trending events with Zika and quantify the strength of these events. We also retrieved Zika case data and identified the top influencers of the Zika discussion on Twitter. The influence of 3 potential drivers was examined via a multivariate time series analysis, signal processing, a content analysis, and text mining techniques. RESULTS Zika-related tweeting dynamics were not significantly correlated with the underlying Zika epidemic in the United States in any of the four quarters in 2016 nor in the entire year. Instead, peaks of Zika-related tweeting activity were strongly associated with a few critical real-world events, both planned, such as the Rio Olympics, and unplanned, such as the PHEIC announcement. The Rio Olympics was mentioned in &gt;15% of all Zika-related tweets and PHEIC occurred in 27% of Zika-related tweets around their respective peaks. In addition, the overall tweeting dynamics of the top 100 most actively tweeting users on the Zika topic, the top 100 users receiving most RTs, and the top 100 users mentioned were the most highly correlated to and preceded the overall tweeting dynamics, making these groups of users the potential drivers of tweeting dynamics. The top 100 users who retweeted the most were not critical in driving the overall tweeting dynamics. There were very few overlaps among these different groups of potentially influential users. CONCLUSIONS Using our proposed analytical workflow, EventPeriscope, we identified that Zika discussion dynamics on Twitter were decoupled from the actual disease epidemic in the United States but were closely related to and highly influenced by certain sporadic real-world events as well as by a few influential users. This study provided a methodology framework and insights to better understand the driving forces of web-based public discourse during health emergencies. Therefore, health agencies could deliver more effective and efficient web-based communications in emerging crises.

Social Media and other Web 2.0 Technologies as Communication Channels in a Cross-Cultural, Web-Based Professional Communication Project

2013 ◽  
pp. 256-272
Author(s):  
Pavel Zemliansky ◽  
Olena Goroshko
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Communication Channels ◽  
The United States ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Project Participants

In recent years, cross-national web-based teaching projects have become very popular in many fields. During such projects, participants from different countries work together on collaborative tasks. Communications among project participants take place over the Internet, including via social media. In this chapter, the author reports the results of social media use in one such project, which brought together students from the United States and Ukraine. A pre and post project survey taken by the participants demonstrate the main opportunities and challenges afforded by social media to educators. The reporting and analysis of the survey results are preceded by a review of relevant literature, which contextualizes our findings.

scholarly journals Social Media as an Early Proxy for Social Distancing Indicated by the COVID-19 Reproduction Number: Observational Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Younis ◽  
Harvy Freitag ◽  
Jeremy S Ruthberg ◽  
Jonathan P Romanes ◽  
Craig Nielsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Observational Study ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Reproduction Number ◽  
The United States ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
Basic Reproductive Number ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Google Search

BACKGROUND  The magnitude and time course of the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States depends on early interventions to reduce the basic reproductive number to below 1. It is imperative, then, to develop methods to actively assess where quarantine measures such as social distancing may be deficient and suppress those potential resurgence nodes as early as possible. OBJECTIVE We ask if social media is an early indicator of public social distancing measures in the United States by investigating its correlation with the time-varying reproduction number (R<sub>t</sub>) as compared to social mobility estimates reported from Google and Apple Maps. METHODS  In this observational study, the estimated R<sub>t</sub> was obtained for the period between March 5 and April 5, 2020, using the EpiEstim package. Social media activity was assessed using queries of “social distancing” or “#socialdistancing” on Google Trends, Instagram, and Twitter, with social mobility assessed using Apple and Google Maps data. Cross-correlations were performed between R<sub>t</sub> and social media activity or mobility for the United States. We used Pearson correlations and the coefficient of determination (ρ) with significance set to <i>P</i>&lt;.05. RESULTS Negative correlations were found between Google search interest for “social distancing” and R<sub>t</sub> in the United States (<i>P</i>&lt;.001), and between search interest and state-specific R<sub>t</sub> for 9 states with the highest COVID-19 cases (<i>P</i>&lt;.001); most states experienced a delay varying between 3-8 days before reaching significance. A negative correlation was seen at a 4-day delay from the start of the Instagram hashtag “#socialdistancing” and at 6 days for Twitter (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). Significant correlations between R<sub>t</sub> and social media manifest earlier in time compared to social mobility measures from Google and Apple Maps, with peaks at –6 and –4 days. Meanwhile, changes in social mobility correlated best with R<sub>t</sub> at –2 days and +1 day for workplace and grocery/pharmacy, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrates the potential use of Google Trends, Instagram, and Twitter as epidemiological tools in the assessment of social distancing measures in the United States during the early course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their correlation and earlier rise and peak in correlative strength with R<sub>t</sub> when compared to social mobility may provide proactive insight into whether social distancing efforts are sufficiently enacted. Whether this proves valuable in the creation of more accurate assessments of the early epidemic course is uncertain due to limitations. These limitations include the use of a biased sample that is internet literate with internet access, which may covary with socioeconomic status, education, geography, and age, and the use of subtotal social media mentions of social distancing. Future studies should focus on investigating how social media reactions change during the course of the epidemic, as well as the conversion of social media behavior to actual physical behavior.

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