Dataset Information

Retweets of officials' alarming vs reassuring messages during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for crisis management.

ABSTRACT: Coronavirus related discussions have spiraled at an exponential rate since its initial outbreak. By the end of May, more than 6 million people were diagnosed with this infection. Twitter witnessed an outpouring of anxious tweets through messages associated with the spread of the virus. Government and health officials replied to the troubling tweets, reassuring the public with regular alerts on the virus's progress and information to defend against the virus. We observe that social media users are worried about Covid 19-related crisis and we identify three separate conversations on virus contagion, prevention, and the economy. We analyze the tone of officials' tweet text as alarming and reassuring and capture the response of Twitter users to official communications. Such studies can provide insights to health officials and government agencies for crisis management, specifically regarding communicating emergency information to the public via social media for establishing reassurance.

SUBMITTER: Rao HR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7309924 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Retweets of officials' alarming vs reassuring messages during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for crisis management.

Rao H Raghav HR Vemprala Naga N Akello Patricia P Valecha Rohit R

International journal of information management 20200623

Coronavirus related discussions have spiraled at an exponential rate since its initial outbreak. By the end of May, more than 6 million people were diagnosed with this infection. Twitter witnessed an outpouring of anxious tweets through messages associated with the spread of the virus. Government and health officials replied to the troubling tweets, reassuring the public with regular alerts on the virus's progress and information to defend against the virus. We observe that social media users ar ...[more]

PMID: 32836644

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background and purposeIn multiple sclerosis (MS), disease-related factors and dysfunctional coping might favor the development of mental distress induced by COVID-19 containment measures. Aim of this study was exploring the relationship between disability, coping strategies, daily life reorganization and neuropsychiatric symptoms in an Italian MS population during the COVID-19 lockdown, in order to identify potentially modifiable factors that could inform clinical management of mental distress in people with MS.MethodsWe explored the relationship between mental distress, disability and coping strategies in the Italian MS population under lockdown. Structural equation modeling was applied to information collected via web survey to identify modifiable factors that could account for mental distress.ResultsA total of 845 participants (497 with MS and 348 controls) were included in the study. The MS group had higher scores than the control group for depression (p = 0.005), but not for anxiety, emotional dyscontrol or sleep disturbances. The structural equation modeling explained 74% of the variance observed in depression score. Within the model, three latent factors were characterized from measured variables: motor disability and cognitive dysfunction contributed to disability (β = 0.509 and β = 0.836; p < 0.001); positive attitude and exercise contributed to active attitude (β = 0.386 and β = 0.297; p < 0.001); and avoidance, social support and watching television contributed to passive attitude (β = 0.301, β = 0.243 and β = 0.212; p < 0.001). With regard to the relationship between latent factors and their influence on depression, disability contributed to passive attitude (β = 0.855; p < 0.001), while both passive and active attitude significantly influenced depression (β = 0.729 and β = -0.456; p < 0.001).ConclusionAs a practical implication of our model, favoring exercise would enhance active attitude and its positive impact on mental well-being while, at the same time, reducing the negative impact of disability on depression, representing a valuable tool in facing COVID-19-related mental distress.

Dataset Information

Retweets of officials' alarming vs reassuring messages during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for crisis management.

Publications

Retweets of officials' alarming vs reassuring messages during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for crisis management.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets