scholarly journals I AM THE VIRUS: DIGITAL STORYTELLING AND FICTIONAL TWITTER ACCOUNTS IN THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS IN SPAIN

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoni Roig ◽  
Sandra Martorell
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Storytelling ◽  
Fictional Character ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Breaking News ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Hard Times ◽  
Twitter Account ◽  
Collective Empowerment

The purpose of this work is to understand the role of digital storytelling as a conversation asset regarding social and health emergencies, specifically fictional parody characters in social media, as chroniclers of ongoing crises. We will focus on a strikingly popular phenomenon: the Twitter account @coronavid19, where the virus, presented as a fictional character, offers a humorous chronicle in almost real time through social media, from the early breaking news related to the presence of the virus in the country to the unfolding of an unprecedented social and health crisis. The account got more than 450,000 followers in its first week of existence, coinciding with the first confirmed Covid19 cases in mainland Spain (February 2020) and was widely covered by mainstream media. It currently has more than 860.000 followers, which is way higher than official health and governmental Twitter accounts. This paradigmatic case study has been chosen considering its impact from the early stages of the pandemic, but also its peculiarities as a fictional character and a privileged chronicler in the first person. Our case analysis is aimed to understand how fictional parody characters are built in discursive and extra-discursive terms, how they interact with followers and how narrative and character traits evolve along the crisis. We also want to observe whether they add nuances to social discussion, reframe news content (emphasizing or downplaying events) and serve as a tool to cope with hard times, fostering collective empowerment, mutual empathy, while stressing official recommendations using irony and mocking irrational behaviour.

Social media bots as active disseminators of COVID-19 news (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al-Rawi ◽  
Vishal Shukla
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Breaking News ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Credible Information ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
Standard Terms ◽  
Official Sources

BACKGROUND In this study, we examined the activities of automated social media accounts or bots that tweet or retweet referencing #COVID-19 and #COVID19. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to identify bot accounts to understand the nature of messages sent by them on COVID-19. Social media bots have been widely discussed in academic literature as some kind of moral panic mostly in relation to spreading controversial and politically polarized messages or in connection to problematic health bots (Broniatowski et al., 2018; Allem & Ferrara, 2018). The findings of this study, however, show that bots that reference COVID-19 mostly mention mainstream media and credible health sources while spreading breaking news on the pandemic or urging people to stay at home. These results align with previous research on the possible benefits, advantages, or possibilities afforded by the use of health chatbots (Brandtzaeg & Følstad, 2018; Skjuve & Brandtzæg, 2018; Kretzschmar et al., 2019; Greer et al., 2019). METHODS We used a mixed approach mostly comprised of several digital methods in this study. First, we collected 50,811,299 tweets and retweets referencing #COVID-19 and #COVID19 for a period of over two months from February 12 until April 18, 2020. We focused on these two hashtags because they are standard terms used by WHO and other official sources. From a total sample of over 50 million tweets, we used a mixed method to extract more than 185,000 messages posted by 127 bots. RESULTS Unlike the literature on health bots that associate them with anti-social activities, our findings show that the majority of these bots tweet, retweet and mention mainstream media outlets and credible official sources, promote health protection and telemedicine, and disseminate breaking news on the number of casualties and deaths caused by COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS Despite that some literature on social media bots highlight the controversial and anti-social nature of automated accounts, the findings of this study show that the majority of bots spread news on and awareness of COVID-19 risks while citing and referencing mainstream media outlets and credible health sources. We argue that there might be financial incentives behind designing some of these bots. However and if monitored and updated with credible information by health agencies themselves, we believe that bots can be useful during health crises due to their efficiency and speed in spreading valuable information, some of which is crucial for public health. CLINICALTRIAL N/A

scholarly journals Quantifying Media Effects, Its Content, and Role in Promoting Community Awareness of Chikungunya Epidemic in Bangladesh

Epidemiologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Mst. Marium Begum ◽  
Osman Ulvi ◽  
Ajlina Karamehic-Muratovic ◽  
Mallory R. Walsh ◽  
Hasan Tarek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Media Outlet ◽  
And Control

Background: Chikungunya is a vector-borne disease, mostly present in tropical and subtropical regions. The virus is spread by Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitos and symptoms include high fever to severe joint pain. Dhaka, Bangladesh, suffered an outbreak of chikungunya in 2017 lasting from April to September. With the goal of reducing cases, social media was at the forefront during this outbreak and educated the public about symptoms, prevention, and control of the virus. Popular web-based sources such as the top dailies in Bangladesh, local news outlets, and Facebook spread awareness of the outbreak. Objective: This study sought to investigate the role of social and mainstream media during the chikungunya epidemic. The study objective was to determine if social media can improve awareness of and practice associated with reducing cases of chikungunya. Methods: We collected chikungunya-related information circulated from the top nine television channels in Dhaka, Bangladesh, airing from 1st April–20th August 2017. All the news published in the top six dailies in Bangladesh were also compiled. The 50 most viewed chikungunya-related Bengali videos were manually coded and analyzed. Other social media outlets, such as Facebook, were also analyzed to determine the number of chikungunya-related posts and responses to these posts. Results: Our study showed that media outlets were associated with reducing cases of chikungunya, indicating that media has the potential to impact future outbreaks of these alpha viruses. Each media outlet (e.g., web, television) had an impact on the human response to an individual’s healthcare during this outbreak. Conclusions: To prevent future outbreaks of chikungunya, media outlets and social media can be used to educate the public regarding prevention strategies such as encouraging safe travel, removing stagnant water sources, and assisting with tracking cases globally to determine where future outbreaks may occur.

PHYSIATRY DURING COVID-19: A SURVEY BASED ANALYSIS

2021 ◽  
pp. 48-51
Author(s):  
Mrinal Joshi ◽  
Aayushi Choudhary
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Major Change ◽  
Nationwide Survey ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Rehabilitation Programs ◽  
Practice Patient ◽  
Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation

Introduction: The declaration of COVID 19 pandemic by WHO on 11th March 2020, is the dening global health crisis of the past 100 years. The following Nationwide survey was conducted to ascertain the sea changes this pandemic has brought in the physiatrist practice, patient management and preparing oneself to the challenges of rehabilitation in the POST COVID world. The survey covers the role and importance of social media in medical education and consultation in a POST COVID world. It also sheds light on the nancial implications and personal lifestyle changes that physiatrists are witnessing. A Google form comprising of 74 questions, divided in 3 se Material &Methods: ctions, was used to gather the requisite data on :- A) PRECOVID practice, management and lifestyle; B) Life during COVID pandemic; and C) Anticipated changes in POST COVID era. The survey was circulated to 400 physiatrist via various interactive groups who have been practicing either independently or in govt setups and associated hospitals nationwide. They were requested to submit their responses in a period of 30 days. In PRECOVID era an average Result: physiatrist was nely balancing his profession, personal lifestyle, learning and recreation. The LOCKDOWN clamped their practice which lead to nancial drought but hardly made a dent in productivity by engaging in webinars, reading and researching. The POST COVID time demands implementation of newer safety protocols like changes in setup, regulating the patient trafc, limiting daily procedures, engaging in distance learning through virtual conferences, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and constructing proper protocols for pulmonary, neurological and musculoskeletal rehabilitation programs for patients post recovery from COVID19, especially the patients weaning from ventilators. Conclusion: The effect of COVID19 demands major change in physiatrist professional practice like limiting consultation, following safety protocols, COVID testing, preparing consolidated program for POSTCOVID sequel. Social media is rightly poised to be a major tool for education, consultation, marketing and awareness. The role of teleconsultation needs to be reprised, recognised and regularised. Webinars and virtual conferences will nd more takers in future.

scholarly journals COVID-19 as an “Infodemic” in Public Health: Critical Role of the Social Media

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debanjan Banerjee ◽  
K. S. Meena
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The Impact

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has emerged as a significant and global public health crisis. Besides the rising number of cases and fatalities, the outbreak has also affected economies, employment and policies alike. As billions are being isolated at their homes to contain the infection, the uncertainty gives rise to mass hysteria and panic. Amidst this, there has been a hidden epidemic of “information” that makes COVID-19 stand out as a “digital infodemic” from the earlier outbreaks. Repeated and detailed content about the virus, geographical statistics, and multiple sources of information can all lead to chronic stress and confusion at times of crisis. Added to this is the plethora of misinformation, rumor and conspiracy theories circulating every day. With increased digitalization, media penetration has increased with a more significant number of people aiding in the “information pollution.” In this article, we glance at the unique evolution of COVID-19 as an “infodemic” in the hands of social media and the impact it had on its spread and public reaction. We then look at the ways forward in which the role of social media (as well as other digital platforms) can be integrated into social and public health, for a better symbiosis, “digital balance” and pandemic preparedness for the ongoing crisis and the future.

New Media and Terrorism

2014 ◽  
pp. 184-196
Author(s):  
Pauline Hope Cheong
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
War On Terrorism ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Social Media Networks ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Hearts And Minds ◽  
Video Material

Beyond the widespread coverage of terrorism-related stories on international news outlets, we are witnessing the swift spread of alternative interpretations of these stories online. These alternative narratives typically involve digital transmediation or the remix, remediation, and viral dissemination of textual, audio, and video material on multiple new and social media platforms. This chapter discusses the role of new(er) media in facilitating the transmediated spread of extremist narratives, rumors, and political parody. Drawing from recent case studies based upon multi-modal analyses of digital texts on social media networks, including blogs, vlogs, Twitter, and Jihadist sites associated with acts of terror in Asia, Middle East, and North America, the chapter illustrates how digital transmediation significantly works oftentimes to construct counter narratives to government counter insurgency operations and mainstream media presentations. In discussing these examples, the chapter demonstrates how the new media points to varied narratives and reifies notions of national security, global politics, terrorism, and the media's role in framing the “War on Terrorism.” Moreover, a critical examination of remix texts and digital mashups of popular artifacts inform a Web 2.0 understanding of how the creative communication practices of online prosumers (hybrid consumers and producers) contest dominant interests in the online ideological battlefield for hearts and minds.

Social Media, Political Mobilization, and Citizen Engagement

2017 ◽  
pp. 360-388
Author(s):  
Kenneth C. C. Yang ◽  
Yowei Kang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Political Mobilization ◽  
Resource Mobilization Theory ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Mobilization Theory

On March 18, 2014, a group of student protestors raided and occupied the Legislative Yuan and later the Executive Yuan in Taiwan. The student-led movement lasted for about 3 weeks after Taiwan's President made significant concessions to change his non-transparent practices when signing the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA) with People's Republic of China. Mostly labelled as a movement of civil disobedience against government's dealings with China, the 318 Sunflower Student Movement is viewed as an important step toward the deepening of Taiwan's democratization process. Its repercussions were felt in Hong-Kong and Macao where similar civil disobedience movements had emerged. On the basis of the resource mobilization theory (RMT), the authors used a combination of case study and thematic analysis methods to examine the role of social media in political mobilization in Taiwan. This chapter identified two major recurrent themes as follows: challenging mainstream media and mobilizing multi-movement resources.

Assessing the role of social media in tourism recovery in tsunami-hit coastal areas in Tohoku, Japan

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 776-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miho Fukui ◽  
Yasuo Ohe
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Volunteer Tourism ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Time Series Regression ◽  
Twitter Account ◽  
Massive Number ◽  
Iwate Prefecture

Social media have become increasingly popular. However, there has been little investigation on how to effectively mobilize this newly emerging tool to promote tourism in rural areas. The aims of this article are twofold. First, among social media, we explore the role of Twitter for tourism promotion, especially by focusing on the recovery process of tourism in a rural area affected by the huge earthquake and tsunami, Magnitude 9.0, which hit eastern Japan in March 2011. Second, to approach the first purpose, we compare two types of tourism: ordinary tourism and ‘volunteer tourism’. As to the latter, a massive number of volunteers came to these areas to help in the recovery work from the devastation such as removing debris and helping evacuees rehabilitate their lives in Iwate prefecture. We employed a text-mining method to find keywords used in the official Twitter account issued by the Iwate Prefectural government and time-series regression models to identify factors that promote the two types of tourism. Data were collected using official statistics on incoming numbers of ordinary tourists and volunteer tourists. Tweeted information was provided by Iwate Prefecture. The results revealed that, first, tweeted information on cultural and natural heritage had a positive relationship with the number of incoming tourists while information on disaster-related words had negative effects. In contrast, second, tweeted information on tourism resources worked negatively toward the number of volunteer tourists while that on rehabilitation/reconstruction and on volunteers worked positively. Consequently, it is important to design support measures that enable the local tourism sector to attract incoming tourists after a drop-in volunteer tourism as reconstruction of the disaster area progresses. In this context, our results suggest how to effectively utilize Twitter for this purpose.

scholarly journals Online Discourse in the Context of COVID-19, the First Health Crisis in China after the Advent of Mobile Social Media: A Content Analysis of China’s Weibo and Baidu

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Christian Carvajal-Miranda ◽  
Luis Mañas-Viniegra ◽  
Li Liang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Online Media ◽  
Online Discourse ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Investigation Period ◽  
Universal Health

The COVID-19 epidemic was the first universal health crisis since China entered the era of mobile social media. When Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out in 2003, it was not until almost six years later that Weibo was born, marking China’s entry into the era of mobile social media (Weixin 2020). In this context, this research analysed the role of the social media platform Weibo and the Internet search browser Baidu, in a government controlled online media environment, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to undertake this study, we applied the use of content and sentiment analysis to the discourse identified through the topics published during the investigation period, which encompassed 15 December 2019 until 15 March 2020. From the findings of this study, we concluded that, during the pre- and post-COVID-19 period, there was an important presence of social and lifestyle topic categories dominating the online discourse, which dramatically changed in correlation to the increasing spread of the disease. Additionally, there was a marked absence of topics in relation to economic and political information, and there was a notable absence of an official Government “voice” generating topics.

scholarly journals “DO YOUR RESEARCH”: COVID-19, POST-SOCIALIST EXPERIENCE AND THE NARRATIVE OF INFORMATION INDEPENDENCE AMONG CZECH INSTAGRAM INFLUENCERS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Hermanova
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Domestic Space ◽  
Political Event ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Media Ecosystem ◽  
The Media

The COVID-19 pandemics highlighted the role of social media influencers as political communicators and drew attention to the question of accountability of influencers and their overall role in the media ecosystem. The aim of the paper is to analyze the role of lifestyle Instagram influencers in shaping the public narrative about COVID-19 as an orchestrated political event aimed at curbing civic freedom in the Czech Republic with focus on two key elements: 1) the politicization of the domestic (space) on Instagram and its gendered nature and 2) the framing of the role of influencers as democratic public voices offering an alternative to mainstream media, within the context of the post-socialist historical experience of totalitarian past. The presented analysis builds on digital ethnography among Czech female lifestyle influencers and content analysis of selected Czech influencers profiles.

scholarly journals The coup that flopped: Facebook as a platform for emotional protest

First Monday ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Švelch ◽  
Václav Štětka
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Movement Mobilization

This paper develops the idea that recent “networked” social movements are driven by emotions and provides an analysis of the role of emotions in movement mobilization. The case study focuses on the 2013 protests against a “coup” within the Czech Social Democratic Party. The protests had an immediate impact, resulting in a series of demonstrations, mainstream media attention and a successful overturning of the “coup”. The movement’s Facebook page served as an important catalyst for the protest. We argue that the movement’s success can be explained by its emphasis on perceived issues of morality. As people tend to gather on Facebook to express their feelings, social media become a primary conduit for emotional protest, which can be subsequently taken to the streets.

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