ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has been spreading across the world starting from early 2020, and there are numerous and varied discussions on social media platforms related to the COVID-19 outbreak. In this study, we analyzed and compared the data on Twitter and Weibo at different times based on the public’s understanding of COVID-19 to ultimately understand the characteristics of social media reaction in U.S. and in China during the pandemic. Results show that both similarities and differences existed when comparing the public reaction on social media in the U.S. and in China. The study suggests that data from social media could be used as a good reflection of the public’s reaction, especially in a pandemic like COVID-19. It is important for the government to understand people’s timely reaction during the pandemic in order to ensure the authorities are on the right direction to provide services and accurate information to the public. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic created a considerable need for rapid knowledge transmission, but most traditional peer-reviewed journals are struggling to keep up. Other modes of sharing information, such as social media and preprint publications have rapidly become a source of information. While some academicians might argue that these media lack the rigor of a peer-reviewed process, others argue that the current journal submission process is too slow and laborious and delays the free and open exchange of ideas and potentially useful information. METHODS: We measured the reach of social media posts related to the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of times the posts were shared, the number of countries the posts reached, and the speed of dissemination. RESULTS: @CMichaelGibson tweeted regarding a comparison of different dyi materials from a University of Cambridge research article. This post with #macgyvercare was heavily retweeted and within 3 days the post had been shared by people in 53 countries, and within a week, 79 countries. During this time, the US and the CDC had not commented on the utility of masks for the public or on a universal need for health care workers to wear masks except during procedures with a high risk of aerosolization. Secondly a post on a social media platform tagged #aerosolbox described an improvised, low-cost, aerosol box to help give health care workers additional protection against the novel coronavirus when intubating was shared. In 12 days the idea that was initially posted on Facebook subsequently spread through news media and social media to 6 continents was modified and implemented in hospitals around the globe, and was ultimately described in a leading medical journal. Also, within the same 12-day span, information about #aerosolbox was shared publicly over 26,400 times on social media by people in 110 countries. CONCLUSIONS: Social media is a powerful tool for the dissemination of digital health information. As seen the information traveled far and fast during the COVID-19 pandemic and underwent considerable online feedback while spreading, often transforming into news articles and traditional academic peer-reviewed publication.