ABSTRACT

Timely vaccination against COVID-19 can prevent many people from getting infected. However, given the disease novelty and fast vaccine development, some people are hesitant to vaccinate. Online social networks like Twitter produce huge amounts of public health information and may impact peoples’ vaccination decisions. Hence, it is important to understand the conversation around the COVID-19 vaccination through the lens of social media. The present study aimed to define the nature of a larger Twitter conversation around the COVID-19 vaccine and explored interaction patterns between Twitter users engaged in such a conversation. Results of this study show that mixed-emotions reactions and discussions about potential side effects and vaccine safety dominated the online conversation. Four main network clusters highlighted different groups of conversation stakeholders. This study findings emphasize the importance of Twitter surveillance and highlight conversational patterns and prevailing sentiments that dominate online social networks during a major health crisis.

摘要

及时接种 COVID-19 疫苗可以防止许多人受到感染。然而，鉴于该疾病的新颖性和快速的疫苗开发，一些人对接种疫苗犹豫不决。Twitter 等在线社交网络会产生大量公共卫生信息，并可能影响人们的疫苗接种决定。因此，通过社交媒体的视角了解围绕 COVID-19 疫苗接种的对话非常重要。本研究旨在定义围绕 COVID-19 疫苗的更大 Twitter 对话的性质，并探索参与此类对话的 Twitter 用户之间的交互模式。这项研究的结果表明，关于潜在副作用和疫苗安全性的混合情绪反应和讨论主导了在线对话。四个主要的网络集群突出了不同的对话利益相关者群体。这项研究结果强调了 Twitter 监控的重要性，并突出了在重大健康危机期间主导在线社交网络的对话模式和普遍情绪。