Social Media Conversations and Attitudes in the UK Towards COVID-19 - P. Paterson, A. Passanante, E. Pertwee, H.J. Larson.
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Social Media Conversations and Attitudes in the UK Towards COVID-19 P. Paterson, A. Passanante, E. Pertwee, H.J. Larson. 1 June - 31 July 2021
Funding
This research was funded by the National Institute for
Health Research Health Protection Research Unit
(NIHR HPRU) in Immunisation (Grant references:
HPRU2012-10096 and HPRU-2019-NIHR200929) at
the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in
partnership with Public Health England (PHE). The
views expressed are those of the author(s) and not
necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the
Department of Health or Public Health England.
2Key Insights Total mentions
>> There were 7.8 million mentions of COVID-19 between 1 June and 31 July 2021, a
7.8M
17% increase compared to the previous two months. The three most popular topics
of conversation were COVID-19 vaccines and wearing masks, closely followed by Over time
self-isolation (see figure 1).
>> In England a number of restrictions were lifted on 'Freedom day' on 19 July 2021,
including face masks no longer being mandatory in shops and most public transport,
the lifting of the 'one metre plus rule' on social distancing, and nightclubs reopening.
>> COVID-19 vaccines conversations had the smallest proportion of negative Top platform
sentiment (18%). Conversations on lockdown had the highest percentages of
negative sentiment (22%).
>> As well as posts encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, to wear Twitter
masks, and to self-isolate when pinged, discussions included concerns at the 79%
easing of restrictions on 19th July, concerns about vaccinating children, and
concerns at Covid vaccination being made mandatory for entry into nightclubs and
other venues with large crowds. There were also frustrations at many Doctors
missing work and children missing school after being alerted to self-isolate by NHS
Test and Trace following contact with a positive case.
Figure 1: Mentions of key preventive measures, 01 August 2020 - 31 July 2021.
COVID-19 vaccine Lockdown Wearing masks Self-isolation
100K 19 July 2021. Freedom
02 December 2020. day with restrictions lifted
08 December 2020. while Boris Johnson
Authorization of
First vaccine given to announced that full
Pfizer vaccine by
member of public. vaccination will be
MHRA.
80K required in over-18s for
entry into "nightclubs and
04 January 2021. other venues where large
Boris Johnson crowds gather".
announced a new
60K lockdown.
40K
20K
0
20 20 20 0… 0… 20 20 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21
g 20 g 20 g 20 pt 2 pt 2 t 20 t 20 v 20 v 20 c 20 c 20 n 20 n 20 b 20 b 20 r 20 r 20 r 20 r 20 y 20 y 20 n 20 n 20 l 20 l 20
u u u Se Se Oc Oc o o De De a a e Fe a a Ap Ap a a u u Ju Ju
1 A 16 A 31 A 15 30 15 30 14 N 29 N 14 29 13 J 28 J 12 F 27 14 M 29 M 13 28 13 M 28 M 12 J 27 J 12 27
3Methods COVID-19 vaccines was the topic with the smallest
proportion of negative content (18%) (see figure 3).
Lockdown had the largest proportion of negative
VCP analysed 7.8 million mentions of the
content (22%). COVID-19 vaccines and wearing
coronavirus outbreak on social media in the United
masks were the topics with the largest portion of
Kingdom between 1 June and 31 July 2021.
positive content (5% for both).
Mentions represent the number of social media
posts referencing a particular word or topic. We Figure 2: Top sources, 1 June - 31 July 2021.
assessed changing levels of interest and sentiment
towards four preventive behaviours: COVID-19
vaccine, lock down, wearing masks and self- Twitter
isolation. By manually reading through the most
highly engaged-with social media posts, we further News
identified some common themes and issues. Message
boards
For more details of data and methods, please refer to Blogs
‘Media monitoring report: Social media
conversations and attitudes in the UK towards the Comments
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak 06 to 19
Reviews
April 2020’ and ‘Media monitoring report: Social
media conversations and attitudes in the UK towards 0 2M 4M 6M 8M
the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak 27 July Mentions
to 09 August 2020’.
Findings
In this reporting period, COVID-19 vaccines had the
highest overall levels of interest (1.78M mentions),
followed by wearing masks (496k), self-isolation
(493k) and lockdown (462k mentions). Interest in
vaccines has increased by 20% compared with the
previous two months (figure 1).
Twitter continued to be the top platform for
discussions about COVID-19 with 79% of the
conversation (figure 2).
Figure 3: Sentiment towards key preventive measures, 1 June to 31 July 2021.
Negative Neutral Positive
COVID-19 vaccine
Self-isolation
Wearing masks
Lockdown
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
4Figure 4: Trending keywords around COVID-19
COVID-19 vaccines vaccines.
COVID-19 vaccines had the highest level of interest
during this reporting period (1.78M mentions). The
general conversation was primarily neutral (77%).
Negative sentiment edged out positive sentiment
overall (18% and 5% respectively), although the
majority of top posts by engagement were either
positive or neutral.
Political correspondent Joe Pike tweeted about Dame
Sarah Gilbert, who designed the Oxford COVID Lockdown
vaccine, receiving a standing ovation at
Lockdown was the least discussed topic of interest,
Wimbledon tennis tournament (52.1k Reach, 62.8k
with 462k mentions for this reporting period (down
Engagement).
23% compared with the previous two months).
Sir Patrick Vallance tweeted correcting a statistic he
The conversation around lockdown was primarily
gave at a press conference, clarifying that 60% of
neutral (74%). This topic had the highest percentage
hospitalisations from Covid are from unvaccinated
of conversation that was negative (22%). Only 4%
people and not from double vaccinated people (178k
was positive in this reporting period.
Reach, 40.3k Engagement).
One of the top posts by engagement was by
Broadcaster and journalist Piers Morgan tweeted
political correspondent Paul Joseph Watson
several controversial and highly engaged with posts
highlighting that lockdown-free and mask-free
including suggesting that hospitalised unvaccinated
Sweden had very little Covid deaths per day (1.12M
covid patients should be forced to pay for their own
Reach, 24.6k Engagement).
hospital care (7.97M Reach, 32k Engagement).
Journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh reported on a
Several highly engaged with posts questioned the
lockdown rally in Trafalgar Square, London, on 24
easing of restrictions on 19th July before all adults
July 2021, highlighting a speech by former nurse
had the chance to be fully vaccinated, raised concerns
and conspiracy theorist, Kate Shemirani, stating that
about vaccinating children, and concerns about the
Covid vaccines are Satanic, citing the pattern
PM's announcement that "Proof of a negative test will
060606 (21.9k Reach, 14.2k Engagement).
no longer be enough" and that full vaccination will be
required for entry into "nightclubs and other venues
There were several highly engaged with posts about
where large crowds gather".
frustrations at lockdown being extended, even with
Covid deaths being low, and discussions around
Figure 5: Figure by data journalist John Burn-Murdoch another lockdown in Sydney, Australia, following a
illustrating that in well-vaccinated countries, the Delta surge is
small rise in cases.
no longer mirrored in deaths.
5Wearing masks Figure 6: Post encouraging people to wear facemasks
Discussions about wearing masks were the to protect others
second most talked about topic, with 496k
mentions for this monitoring period (and a 54%
increase compared with the previous two
months).
Although sentiment was largely neutral (76%), 20%
was negative and although still low, this topic had
one of the highest percentage of positive
sentiment (5%).
The most highly engaged with post was from a
Christian writer, Andrew Graystone (see Figure 6),
encouraging people to wear facemasks to protect
others (45.5k Reach, 15.7k Engagement).
Many of the top mentions by engagement
encouraged people to wear masks, with many
posts expressing concern about face masks no
longer being required from 19th July, especially
given that not all young people have had the
opportunity to be fully vaccinated against Covid.
Again, there were several highly engaged with
posts about the environmental consequences of
single-use face masks.
Self-isolation
elf-isolation was the third most discussed topic
S
with 493k mentions and an increase of 171%
compared with the previous 2 months. Sentiment
was largely neutral (78%), followed by negative
sentiment (19%) and positive sentiment (3%).
A few highly engaged with posts, including one by
the Prime Minister himself, discussed him needing
to self isolate after being pinged by NHS Test and
Trace having been in contact with someone with
Covid (3.56M Reach, 32k Engagement). Other high
profile people also posted about needing to self-
isolate, including leader of the Labour Party, Keir
Starmer and British businesswoman and TV
personality Deborah Meaden.
Many social media users expressed frustrations
on children missing school and Doctors missing
work due to the 'Pingdemic', and there were also
frustrations from travellers needing to self isolate
after travelling back from Countries with less
Covid than the UK.
6You can also read
