School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Canada.
School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, Canada.
Vaccine. 2019 Mar 22;37(13):1769-1774. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.02.028. Epub 2019 Feb 27.
The growth of Web 2.0 has been particularly impactful in shaping information assessment in decision-making with regards to vaccination. The aim of the present study was to explore how attitudes and beliefs about influenza vaccination are exchanged in Web 2.0 through an analysis of user comment threads in response to related news reports on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation national news website (average of 5.8 million unique visitors per month). User comments (n = 2042) were extracted using a Google Chrome data mining extension, from 33 articles reporting on the seasonal influenza vaccine between September 2015 and October 2016. User comments were analyzed using thematic discourse analysis to identify themes within the data, and also identify how information is exchanged, including identifying the rhetorical devices and tactics used. Mostly unrelated to article content, user comments were extremely polarized with only those with strong positions at either end of the vaccination spectrum (for or against) engaging actively in online debates. Observed exchanges, and the use of rhetorical devices and tactics employed by users are identified as furthering or reinforcing polarization. In addition to exchanging information, forums served as 'echo chambers' where individuals connect with likeminded users and collect additional information to reinforce pre-existing beliefs, rather than encouraging the enrichment of user knowledge. Our data lead us to question existing calls for public health engagement in such online forums, as doing so may actually reduce the intention to vaccinate among individuals against vaccination. Rather, we identify a greater need to observe online platforms to better understand the social mechanisms that may contribute to, or reinforce, attitudes and beliefs related to influenza vaccine refusal. Further research may also explore the effect that such dialogue has on the attitudes and beliefs of passively observing individuals who have yet to decide whether to receive the flu vaccine.
Web 2.0 的发展对塑造与疫苗接种相关的决策中的信息评估产生了特别重大的影响。本研究的目的是通过分析对加拿大广播公司国家新闻网站（每月平均有 580 万独立访客）相关新闻报道的用户评论帖子，探讨 Web 2.0 中如何交流关于流感疫苗接种的态度和信念。使用 Google Chrome 数据挖掘扩展程序从 2015 年 9 月至 2016 年 10 月报道季节性流感疫苗的 33 篇文章中提取用户评论（n=2042）。使用主题话语分析对用户评论进行分析，以识别数据中的主题，并确定信息是如何交流的，包括识别使用的修辞手段和策略。用户评论与文章内容几乎没有关系，极端两极分化，只有在疫苗接种范围内处于极端立场（赞成或反对）的人才会积极参与在线辩论。观察到的交流以及用户使用的修辞手段和策略被认为是加剧或强化两极分化的原因。除了交流信息外，论坛还充当了“回音室”，个人可以在其中与志同道合的用户联系并收集更多信息来强化先前存在的信念，而不是鼓励用户知识的丰富。我们的数据使我们对公共卫生部门在这些在线论坛中进行干预的现有呼吁提出质疑，因为这样做实际上可能会降低个人对疫苗接种的接种意愿。相反，我们发现需要更好地观察在线平台，以更好地了解可能导致或强化与流感疫苗拒绝相关的态度和信念的社会机制。进一步的研究还可以探讨这种对话对尚未决定是否接种流感疫苗的被动观察个体的态度和信念的影响。
