Dipartimento di Management, Università Ca' Foscari, Venice, Italy.
Freelance Data Scientist, Rome, Italy.
J Med Syst. 2021 Mar 6;45(4):50. doi: 10.1007/s10916-021-01726-7.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed expectations for information dissemination and use around the globe, challenging accepted models of communications, leadership, and social systems. We explore how social media discourse about COVID-19 in Italy was affected by the rapid spread of the virus, and how themes in postings changed with the adoption of social distancing measures and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI). We used topic modeling and social network analysis to highlight critical dimensions of conversations around COVID-19: 1) topics in social media postings about the Coronavirus; 2) the scope and reach of social networks; and 3) changes in social media content as the nation moved from partial to full social distancing. Twitter messages sent in Italy between February 11th and March 10th, 2020. 74,306 Tweets sent by institutions, news sources, elected officials, scientists and social media influencers. Messages were retweeted more than 1.2 million times globally. Non-parametric chi-square statistic with residual analysis to identify categories, chi-square test for linear trend, and Social Network Graphing. The first phase of the pandemic was dominated by social media influencers, followed by a focus on the economic consequences of the virus and placing blame on immigrants. As the crisis deepened, science-based themes began to predominate, with a focus on reducing the spread of the virus through physical distancing and business closures Our findings highlight the importance of messaging in social media in gaining the public's trust and engagement during a pandemic. This requires credible scientific voices to garner public support for effective mitigation. Fighting the spread of an infectious disease goes hand in hand with stemming the dissemination of lies, bad science, and misdirection.
新冠疫情改变了全球信息传播和使用的预期，挑战了人们对沟通、领导和社会系统的既有认知。我们探讨了意大利社交媒体上有关新冠疫情的讨论是如何受到病毒快速传播的影响的，以及随着社交距离措施和非药物干预（NPI）的实施，帖子的主题是如何变化的。我们使用主题建模和社交网络分析来突出围绕新冠疫情对话的关键维度：1）社交媒体上有关冠状病毒的帖子主题；2）社交网络的范围和影响力；3）随着国家从部分到全面社交距离的转变，社交媒体内容的变化。2020 年 2 月 11 日至 3 月 10 日期间，意大利在 Twitter 上发布的消息。74306 条由机构、新闻来源、民选官员、科学家和社交媒体影响者发布的推文。这些消息在全球范围内被转发了超过 120 万次。使用非参数卡方检验和残差分析来识别类别，卡方检验用于线性趋势，以及社会网络图。疫情的第一阶段由社交媒体影响者主导，随后关注病毒对经济的影响，并将责任归咎于移民。随着危机的加深，以科学为基础的主题开始占主导地位，重点是通过身体距离和企业关闭来减少病毒的传播。我们的研究结果强调了在大流行期间，通过社交媒体传递信息对于赢得公众信任和参与的重要性。这需要可信的科学声音来赢得公众对有效缓解措施的支持。抗击传染病的传播与遏制谎言、不良科学和误导性信息的传播息息相关。
