Authors: Taylor Summey, Katy Trawick & Janeth Sierra-Rivera
It has almost been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began ravaging the world. Many of us have adapted to a new way of life: social distancing, wearing masks and staying home rather than going out with friends. Though we have accepted this new reality, the discussion about COVID-19 certainly has not died down.
Overall, the top keywords being discussed reflect this informational tone:
A word cloud showing the top keywords in this conversation.
Conversations on Twitter :
The worldwide conversation surrounding COVID-19 on Twitter has remained steadily high, with the post volume never dropping below 2,400,000. These conversations were at their lowest on February 4, with a total of 2,461,171 tweets. Unfortunately, due to the sheer size of the worldwide conversation, it is not possible to determine why this dropoff occurred or to glean any clear trends in conversation.
International Twitter post volume.
The top influencers were primarily non-American news outlets. One of the most interesting top-ten influencers in this conversation was @Anime, the Twitter account of the Anime News Network. Their posts are primarily links to their articles on topics pertaining to COVID-19’s impact on the anime industry. This account shares the top ten list with other outlets like ABC News (@ABC) and Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish).
Doraemon: Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021 Film Delayed Due to COVID-19 https://t.co/mh3GEZh1UQ
— Anime News Network (@AnimeNewsNet) January 29, 2021
A screenshot of a post from @Anime’s account.
In an attempt to gain a more detailed reading of the conversations taking place, the focus was shifted to South Carolina specifically. Some of the key themes used in the updated search included but were not limited to:
- information regarding vaccine dissemination
- reports on the number of COVID-19 deaths in the state
- and discussion of a new strain of the virus that has popped up in South Carolina.
In fact, conversations spiked on Thursday, January 28th as the news reported information pertaining to the new strain. User responses expressed concern and frustration in terms of this new COVID-19 development.
Conversations on Facebook:
According to the available information, more than 166,000 posts about COVID-19 were shared on Facebook during this time frame. Many of the top posts come from international organizations, such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), that were attempting to spread factual information about the pandemic. The analysis conducted showed that posts such as these seem to have dominated the conversations taking place.
It is important to note that Vietnam was ranked as the top location for users posting to Facebook. Other prominent locations include the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Norway, and Singapore. While the United States did not make an appearance in the top locations for Facebook for this particular conversation.
Conversations on Instagram:
Analysis on Instagram relied on the following hashtags to sample the conversations surrounding COVID-19.
- #Covid – 14.9M posts
- #Covid19 – 38.7M posts
- # Covid19vaccine – 168K posts
The conversations that followed the first two hashtags revolved around everyday life and changes that have taken place since the pandemic began. Posts included hobbies and activities to engage in during quarantine such as cooking and crafting, uplifting animal photos, and work and family life. The #Covid19Vaccine conversation revolved around frontline workers posting pictures of them receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.
Conversations on Reddit:
The top three subreddits included:
- r/Coronavirus/
- r/u_toronto_news/
- r/politics
The overall discussion of the top posts on r/Coronavirus revolved around general updates and news articles related to Covid. The first top post was about the United States now has more vaccinated people than cases, while the second top story was about the fact that Kroger had to close two stores. The third top story was regarding the stimulus package that passed after Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote, and the fourth top story was about a child who woke from a coma and did not know about the pandemic.
Group 1:
Keywords: Covid-19
- There was a total of 212k mentions on Reddit related to COVID-19.
- The most used keyword was “vaccine”.
- The highest day of COVID-19 conversation for Reddit was on the 28th.
- The overall conversation on Reddit was neutral and discussing updates around vaccines and Covid.
Group 2:
Keywords: Covid-19 and at least one: vaccine, vaccines, covid, and Pfizer.
- Posts total was still 212 K posts.
Ultimately, this search demonstrated an increase in posts that held debates about vaccines and mental health concerns due to quarantine and the pandemic. This conversation also brought up the debate that corresponded to the usefulness of masks and the Covid-19 vaccines, approximately 860 of them, that spoiled in a Vermont hospital.
Full Analysis
Purpose: To analyze some of the conversations surrounding COVID-19 that are taking place on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit.
Analysis Time Frame:
- January 28 – February 4
Key Themes:
- News coverage dominates a major portion of the pandemic conversation.
- Users are re-sharing informational resources about the virus.
- Locally, users discussing South Carolina are focusing on the vaccine, the death toll, and the new strain of COVID-19 that was recently identified in the state.
- General updates surrounding the virus and receiving vaccines.
- Life changes due to the pandemic.
Overall Post Volume:
Over 27 million posts were made across all social media sites in the time frame this analysis examined.
Overall social media sentiment surrounding COVID-19:
- Neutral: 67%
- Negative: 13%
- Positive: 8%
- Not Rated: 10%
This analysis indicates that the majority of posts were neither particularly negative or positive, but that there was a higher negative sentiment to be found with these conversations.
Top Influencers:
The top news influencers are:
- @aajtak
- @ABC
- @ABPNews
- @AlArabiya_Eng
- @AJEnglish
The top Twitter influencers besides news sources are:
- @BillGates: he has been posting a lot about the pandemic sharing his thoughts on it and the lessons learned.
- @JoeBiden: President Biden has been posting information about rescue plans (The American Rescue Plan) with regards to people losing their homes, during the pandemic.
- @NFL: Some posts were found discussing CDC guidelines regarding Covid-19 and the lead up to the Super Bowl.
