A shift from science to politics : a content analysis of COVID-19 Videos on YouTube (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic is the first pandemic where social media platforms relayed information on a large scale, enabling an “infodemic” of conflicting information which undermined the global response to the pandemic. Understanding how the information circulated and evolved on social media platforms is essential for planning future public health campaigns. OBJECTIVE This study investigated what types of themes about COVID-19 were most viewed on YouTube during the first 8 months of the pandemic, and how COVID-19 themes progressed over this period. METHODS We analyzed top-viewed YouTube COVID-19 related videos in English from from December 1, 2019 to August 16, 2020 with an open inductive content analysis. We coded 536 videos associated with 1.1 billion views across the study period. East Asian countries were the first to report the virus, while most of the top-viewed videos in English were from the US. Videos from straight news outlets dominated the top-viewed videos throughout the outbreak, and public health authorities contributed the fewest. Although straight news was the dominant COVID-19 video source with various types of themes, its viewership per video was similar to that for entertainment news and YouTubers after March. RESULTS We found, first, that collective public attention to the COVID-19 pandemic on YouTube peaked around March 2020, before the outbreak peaked, and flattened afterwards despite a spike in worldwide cases. Second, more videos focused on prevention early on, but videos with political themes increased through time. Third, regarding prevention and control measures, masking received much less attention than lockdown and social distancing in the study period. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that a transition of focus from science to politics on social media intensified the COVID-19 infodemic and may have weakened mitigation measures during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is recommended that authorities should consider co-operating with reputable social media influencers to promote health campaigns and improve health literacy. In addition, given high levels of globalization of social platforms and polarization of users, tailoring communication towards different digital communities is likely to be essential.

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Corporate Capturing Public Attention through Social Media: A Content Analysis of Facebook Pages of top Indian Companies

IMS Manthan (The Journal of Innovations) ◽

10.18701/imsmanthan.v10i2.11125 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Prof. (Dr.) Bandana Pandey ◽

Sumedha Dhasmana

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Public Support ◽

Fortune 500 ◽

News Story ◽

Public Attention ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Communication Flow ◽

Virtual Platform ◽

Facebook Pages

On July 23, 2015, the Press Trust of India released the news story about seven Indian companies making it to the reputed Fortune 500 list. These seven organizations form the basis of this research that aims to understand the socialmedia efforts of top Indian companies. Since Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms, the study examines the Facebook pages of seven Indian companies listed in the global Fortune 500 list of 2015. Undoubtedly, organizations take on various strategies for achieving maximum public support. Reaching the public through virtual platform like that of a Facebook is one such tactics that leads to communication flow and builds public goodwill. The research aimed at understanding how top Indian companies make use of their Facebook Pages in order to gain public support and popularity. The paper identifies loopholes and plus points that can help organizations and individual in analyzing Facebook Page use for growth and publicity purposes. Content analysis method has been adopted on 17 days wall posts of Facebook Pages of selected Indian companies. Findings indicate a variety of type of Facebook updates that includes photos, photos with relevantlinks, videos and video with relevant links. Among these, photo updates are most prominent on the Facebook pages of these organizations

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Chinese Public Attention to COVID-19 Epidemic: Based on Social Media

10.1101/2020.03.18.20038026 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Yuxin Zhao ◽

Huilan Xu

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Control Measures ◽

Public Concern ◽

Public Attention ◽

Mining System ◽

The Public ◽

The Government ◽

And Control

AbstractBackgroundSince the new coronavirus epidemic in China in December 2019, information and discussions about COVID-19 have spread rapidly on the Internet and have quickly become the focus of worldwide attention, especially on social media.ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate and analyze the public’s attention to COVID-19-related events in China at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic in China (December 31, 2019, to February 20, 2020) through the Sina Microblog hot search list.MethodsWe collected topics related to the COVID-19 epidemic on the Sina Microblog hot search list from December 31, 2019, to February 20, 2020 and described the trend of public attention on COVID-19 epidemic-related topics. ROST CM6.0 (ROST Content Mining System Version 6.0) was used to analyze the collected text for word segmentation, word frequency, and sentiment analysis. We further described the hot topic keywords and sentiment trends of public attention. We used VOSviewer to implement a visual cluster analysis of hot keywords and build a social network of public opinion content.ResultsThe study has four main findings. First, we analyzed the changing trend of the public’s attention to the COVID-19 epidemic, which can be divided into three stages. Second, the hot topic keywords of public attention at each stage are slightly different. In addition, the emotional tendency of the public toward the COVID-19 epidemic-related hot topics has changed from negative to neutral, with negative emotions weakening and positive emotions increasing as a whole. Finally, we divided the COVID-19 topics with the most public concern into five categories: new COVID-19 epidemics and their impact; (2) frontline reporting of the epidemic and prevention and control measures; (3) expert interpretation and discussion on the source of infection; (4) medical services on the frontline of the epidemic; and (5) focus on the global epidemic and the search for suspected cases.ConclusionsThis is the first study of public attention on the COVID-19 epidemic using a Chinese social media platform (i.e., Sina Microblog). Our study found that social media (e.g., Sina Microblog) can be used to measure public attention to public health emergencies. During the epidemic of the novel coronavirus, a large amount of information about the COVID-19 epidemic was disseminated on Sina Microblog and received widespread public attention. We have learned about the hotspots of public concern regarding the COVID-19 epidemic. These findings can help the government and health departments better communicate with the public on health and translate public health needs into practice to create targeted measures to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.

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An Instagram-Based Study to Understand Betel Nut Use Culture in Micronesia: Exploratory Content Analysis

Journal of Medical Internet Research ◽

10.2196/13954 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (7) ◽

pp. e13954

Author(s):

Wayne Buente ◽

Francis Dalisay ◽

Pallav Pokhrel ◽

Hanae Kurihara Kramer ◽

Ian Pagano

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Substance Use ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Social Engagement ◽

Cultural Context ◽

World Health ◽

Betel Nut ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Health Organization

Background A 2012 World Health Organization report recognizes betel nut use as an urgent public health threat faced by the Western Pacific region. However, compared with other addictive substances, little is known about how betel nuts are depicted on social media platforms. In particular, image-based social media platforms can be powerful tools for health communication. Studying the content of substance use on visual social media may provide valuable insights into public health interventions. Objective This study aimed to explore and document the ways that betel nut is portrayed on the photo-sharing site Instagram. The analysis focuses on the hashtag #pugua, which refers to the local term for betel nut in Guam and other parts of Micronesia. Methods An exploratory content analysis of 242 Instagram posts tagged #pugua was conducted based on previous research on substance use and Instagram and betel nut practices in Micronesia. In addition, the study examined the social engagement of betel nut content on the image-based platform. Results The study findings revealed content themes referencing the betel nut or betel nut tree, betel nut preparation practices, and the unique social and cultural context surrounding betel nut activity in Guam and Micronesia. In addition, certain practices and cultural themes encouraged social engagement on Instagram. Conclusions The findings from this study emphasize the cultural relevance of betel nut use in Micronesia. These findings provide a basis for empirically testing hypotheses related to the etiological roles of cultural identity and pride in shaping betel nut use behavior among Micronesians, particularly youths and young adults. Such research is likely to inform the development of culturally relevant betel nut prevention and cessation programs.

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PUBLIC REACTION TO COVID-19 ON TWITTER: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS

EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) ◽

10.36713/epra4518 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 349-358

Author(s):

Akif Mustafa ◽

Imaduddin Ansari ◽

Subham Kumar Mohanta ◽

Shalem Balla

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Public Attention ◽

The Public ◽

Emergency Situations ◽

Public Health Emergencies ◽

Health Authorities ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Public Reaction

Emergency situations typically lead to a plethora of public attention on social media platforms like ‘Twitter’. Twitter provides a unique opportunity for public health researchers to analyze untampered information shared during a disease outbreak. Considering the ongoing public health emergency, we conducted a study investigating the public reaction to COVID-19 pandemic around the world using in-depth thematic analysis of Twitter data. A dataset of 212846 tweets was retrieved over a period of seven days (from April 13, 2020, to April 19, 2020) via Twitter Application Programme Interface (API). The following five keywords were used to collect the tweets: “coronavirus”, “covid-19”, “corona”, “covid”, “covid19”. After data filtering and cleaning 6348 tweets were randomly selected for in-depth thematic analysis. Thematic analysis was done manually using a two-level coding guide. A total of six main themes emerged from the analysis: ‘sentiments and feelings’, ‘Information’, ‘General Discussion’, ‘Politics’, ‘Food’, and ‘Sarcasm or humor’. The aforementioned themes were divided into 26 sub-themes. The results of the thematic analysis show that 30.1% of the tweets were regarding ‘sentiments and feelings’, 15.6% were regarding ‘politics’, and 6.5% were related to ‘sarcasm or humor’. The present study is the first study that has analyzed the public response to COVID-19 on Twitter. The study demonstrates that social media platforms (like Twitter) can be used to conduct infodemiological studies related to public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that the results of this study will be of potential interest to policymakers, health authorities, stakeholders, and public health and social science researchers. KEYWORDS:COVID-19, Twitter, Social Media, Coronavirus, Lockdown, Pandemic

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Social Media Platforms for Health Communication and Research in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross Sectional Survey in Uganda

10.1101/2020.04.30.20086553 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ronald Olum ◽

Felix Bongomin

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Response Rate ◽

Perceived Usefulness ◽

Health Campaigns ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Public Health Campaigns

ABSTRACTObjectives(1) To examine the usage of social media and other forms of media among medical students (MS) and healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Uganda. (2) To assess the perceived usefulness of social media and other forms of media for COVID-19 public health campaigns.DesignA descriptive WhatsApp messenger-based cross-sectional survey in April 2020.SettingMakerere University Teaching Hospitals (MUTH) and 9 of the 10 medical schools in Uganda.ParticipantsHCPs at MUTH and MS in the 9 medical schools in Uganda.Main outcome measuresWe collected data on sociodemographic characteristics, sources of information on COVID-19, preferences of social media platform and perceived usefulness of the different media platforms for acquisition of knowledge on COVID-19.ResultOverall, response rate was 21.5% for both MS and HCPs. In total, 877 (HCPS [136, 15.5%], MS [741, 85.5%]) were studied. Majority (n=555, 63.3%) were male with a median age of 24 (range: 18-66) years. Social media was a source of information for 665 (75.8%) participants. Usage was similar among MS and HCPs (565/741 (76.2%) vs. 100/136 (73.5%), p=0.5). Among the MS, commonly used social media were: WhatsApp (n=705, 95.1%) Facebook (n=405, 54.8%), Twitter (n=290, 39.1%), Instagram (n=178, 24.0) and Telegram (n=80, 10.8%). Except for WhatsApp, male MS we more likely to use the other social media platforms (p= <0.001 − 0.01). Mass media (television and radio) and social media were preferred the most useful tools for dissemination of COVID-19 related information.ConclusionMore than two-thirds of MS and HCPs are routinely using social media in Uganda. Social media platforms may be used for dissemination of information as well as a research tool among MS and HCPs. Social media alongside other media platforms can also be used as sources of reliable information on COVID-19 as well as for dissemination of research findings and guidelines.Strengths and limitationsThis is the first study in sub Saharan Africa on the use of social media for research during the COVID-19 pandemic.The study also explores perceived usefulness of different media for COVID-19 public health campaigns.Diversity of the participants consisting both healthcare professionals and medical students.A relatively large sample size was enrolled in the survey despite a low response rate.

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An Instagram-Based Study to Understand Betel Nut Use Culture in Micronesia: Exploratory Content Analysis (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.13954 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Wayne Buente ◽

Francis Dalisay ◽

Pallav Pokhrel ◽

Hanae Kurihara Kramer ◽

Ian Pagano

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Substance Use ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Social Engagement ◽

Cultural Context ◽

World Health ◽

Betel Nut ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Health Organization

BACKGROUND A 2012 World Health Organization report recognizes betel nut use as an urgent public health threat faced by the Western Pacific region. However, compared with other addictive substances, little is known about how betel nuts are depicted on social media platforms. In particular, image-based social media platforms can be powerful tools for health communication. Studying the content of substance use on visual social media may provide valuable insights into public health interventions. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to explore and document the ways that betel nut is portrayed on the photo-sharing site Instagram. The analysis focuses on the hashtag #pugua, which refers to the local term for betel nut in Guam and other parts of Micronesia. METHODS An exploratory content analysis of 242 Instagram posts tagged #pugua was conducted based on previous research on substance use and Instagram and betel nut practices in Micronesia. In addition, the study examined the social engagement of betel nut content on the image-based platform. RESULTS The study findings revealed content themes referencing the betel nut or betel nut tree, betel nut preparation practices, and the unique social and cultural context surrounding betel nut activity in Guam and Micronesia. In addition, certain practices and cultural themes encouraged social engagement on Instagram. CONCLUSIONS The findings from this study emphasize the cultural relevance of betel nut use in Micronesia. These findings provide a basis for empirically testing hypotheses related to the etiological roles of cultural identity and pride in shaping betel nut use behavior among Micronesians, particularly youths and young adults. Such research is likely to inform the development of culturally relevant betel nut prevention and cessation programs.

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#PrEP4Love: An Evaluation of a Sex-Positive HIV Prevention Campaign (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.12822 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jessica M Dehlin ◽

Ryan Stillwagon ◽

Jim Pickett ◽

Lance Keene ◽

John A Schneider

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Hiv Prevention ◽

Health Equity ◽

Social Marketing ◽

Health Campaigns ◽

Prevention Campaign ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Public Health Campaigns ◽

Sex Positive

BACKGROUND Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective but underutilized method for preventing HIV transmission in communities vulnerable to HIV. Public health campaigns aimed at increasing PrEP awareness and access have less evaluation data. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate Chicago’s PrEP campaign, PrEP4Love (P4L), a campaign that uses health equity and sex-positivity approaches for information dissemination. METHODS P4L launched in February 2016 and remains an active campaign to date. The analysis period for this paper was from the launch date in February 2016 through May 15, 2016. Our analysis reviews the Web-based reach of the campaign through views on social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram), smart ads, or ads served to individuals across a variety of Web platforms based on their demographics and browsing history, and P4L website clicks. RESULTS In total, 40,913,560 unique views were generated across various social media platforms. A total of 24,548 users clicked on P4L ads and 32,223,987 views were received from smart ads. The 3 most clicked on ads were STD Signs & Symptoms—More Information on STD Symptoms, HIV & AIDS Prevention, and HIV Prevention Medication. An additional 6,970,127 views were gained through Facebook and another 1,719,446 views through Instagram. There was an average of 182 clicks per day on the P4L website. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study investigating public responses to a health equity and sex-positive social marketing campaign for PrEP. Overall, the campaign reached millions of individuals. More studies of PrEP social marketing are needed to evaluate the relationship of targeted public health campaigns on stigma and to guide future PrEP promotion strategies.

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Comparing Representation of Depression on Reddit and Twitter Social Media Platforms (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.26363 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ethan Kaji ◽

Maggie Bushman

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Relative Frequency ◽

Social Activity ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Dsm Iv ◽

Twitter Users

BACKGROUND Adolescents with depression often turn to social media to express their feelings, for support, and for educational purposes. Little is known about how Reddit, a forum-based platform, compares to Twitter, a newsfeed platform, when it comes to content surrounding depression. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to identify differences between Reddit and Twitter concerning how depression is discussed and represented online. METHODS A content analysis of Reddit posts and Twitter posts, using r/depression and #depression, identified signs of depression using the DSM-IV criteria. Other youth-related topics, including School, Family, and Social Activity, and the presence of medical or promotional content were also coded for. Relative frequency of each code was then compared between platforms as well as the average DSM-IV score for each platform. RESULTS A total of 102 posts were included in this study, with 53 Reddit posts and 49 Twitter posts. Findings suggest that Reddit has more content with signs of depression with 92% than Twitter with 24%. 28.3% of Reddit posts included medical content compared to Twitter with 18.4%. 53.1% of Twitter posts had promotional content while Reddit posts didn’t contain promotional content. CONCLUSIONS Users with depression seem more willing to discuss their mental health on the subreddit r/depression than on Twitter. Twitter users also use #depression with a wider variety of topics, not all of which actually involve a case of depression.

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Physical Distancing and Social Media Use in Emerging and Older Adults During COVID-19: Large Scale Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Survey Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.33713 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Thabo J van Woudenberg ◽

Roy Hendrikx ◽

Moniek Buijzen ◽

Julia CM van Weert ◽

Bas van den Putte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Social Media ◽

Emerging Adults ◽

Large Scale ◽

Media Use ◽

Longitudinal Survey ◽

Social Media Use ◽

Random Intercept ◽

Social Media Platforms

BACKGROUND Although emerging adults play a role in the spread of COVID-19, they are less likely to develop severe symptoms after infection. Emerging adults’ relatively high use of social media as source of information raises concerns regarding COVID-19 related behavioral compliance (i.e., physical distancing) in this age group. OBJECTIVE Therefore, the current study investigated physical distancing in emerging adults in comparison to older adults and looked at the role of using social media for COVID-19 news and information in this regard. In addition, this study explored the relation between physical distancing and different social media platforms and sources. METHODS Secondary data of a large-scale national longitudinal survey (N = 123,848, 34.% male) between April and November 2020 were used. Participants indicated, ranging for one to eight waves, how often they were successful in keeping 1.5 meters distance on a 7-point Likert scale. Participants between 18 and 24 years old were considered young adults and older participants were identified as older adults. Also, a dummy variable was created to indicate per wave whether participants used social media for COVID-19 news and information. A subset received follow-up questions asking participants to indicate which platforms they have used and what sources of news and information they had seen on social media. All preregistered hypotheses were tested with Linear Mixed-Effects Models and Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models. RESULTS Emerging adults reported less physical distancing behaviors than older adults (b = -.08, t(86213.83) = -26.79, p < .001). Also, emerging adults were more likely to use social media for COVID-19 news and information (b = 2.48, SE = .11, Wald = 23.66, p = <.001), which mediated the association with physical distancing, but only to a small extend (indirect effect: b = -0.03, 95% CI = [-0.04; -0.02]). Opposed to our hypothesis, the longitudinal Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model showed no evidence that physical distancing was predicted by social media use of the previous wave. However, we did find evidence that using social media affected subsequent physical distancing behavior. Moreover, additional analyses showed that most social media platforms (i.e., YouTube, Facebook and Instagram) and interpersonal communication showed negative associations with physical distancing while others platforms (i.e. LinkedIn and Twitter) and Governmental messages showed no to a slightly positive associations with physical distancing. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, we should be vigilant for physical distancing of emerging adults, but this study give no reason the to worry about the role of social media for COVID-19 news and information. However, as some social media platforms and sources showed negative associations, future studies should more carefully look into these factors to better understand the associations between social media use for news and information, and behavioral interventions in times of crisis.

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Characteristics of Gun Advertisements on Social Media: Systematic Search and Content Analysis of Twitter and YouTube Posts (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.15736 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Lisa Jordan ◽

James Kalin ◽

Colleen Dabrowski

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Systematic Search ◽

Health Concern ◽

Corporate Ownership ◽

Public Health Concern ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Streaming Services ◽

Youtube Videos ◽

Different Characteristics

BACKGROUND Although gun violence has been identified as a major public health concern, the scope and significance of internet gun advertising is not known. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to quantify the characteristics of gun advertising on social media and to compare the reach of posts by manufacturers with those of influencers. METHODS Using a systematic search, we created a database of recent and popular Twitter and YouTube posts made public by major firearm manufacturers and influencers. From our sample of social media posts, we reviewed the content of the posts on the basis of 19 different characteristics, such as type of gun, presence of women, and military or police references. Our content analysis summarized statistical differences in the information conveyed in posts to compare advertising approaches across social media platforms. RESULTS Sample posts revealed that firearm manufacturers use social media to attract audiences to websites that sell firearms: 14.1% (131/928; ±2.9) of Twitter posts, 53.6% (228/425; ±6.2) of YouTube videos, and 89.5% (214/239; ±5.1) of YouTube influencer videos link to websites that facilitate sales. Advertisements included women in efforts to market handguns and pistols for the purpose of protection: videos with women included protection themes 2.5 times more often than videos without women. Top manufacturers of domestic firearms received 98 million channel views, compared with 6.1 billion channel views received by the top 12 YouTube influencers. CONCLUSIONS Firearm companies use social media as an advertising platform to connect viewers to websites that sell guns. Gun manufacturers appropriate YouTube servers, video streaming services, and the work of YouTube influencers to reach large audiences to promote the widespread sale of consumer firearms. YouTube and Twitter subsidize gun advertising by offering server and streaming services at no cost to gun manufacturers, to the commercial benefit of Google and Twitter’s corporate ownership.

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