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Khan S, Biswas MR, Shah Z. Longitudinal analysis of behavioral factors and techniques used to identify vaccine hesitancy among Twitter users: Scoping review. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2023; 19:2278377. [PMID: 37981842 PMCID: PMC10760397 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2023.2278377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/29/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023] Open
Abstract
While vaccines have played a pivotal role in the fight against infectious diseases, individuals engage in online resources to find vaccine-related support and information. The benefits and consequences of these online peers are unclear and mainly cause a behavioral shift in user sentiment toward vaccination. This scoping review aims to identify the community and individual factors that longitudinally influence public behavior toward vaccination. The secondary aim is to gain insight into techniques and methodologies used to extract these factors from Twitter data. We followed PRISMA-ScR guidelines to search various online repositories. From this search process, a total of 28 most relevant articles out of 705 relevant studies. Three main themes emerged including individual and community factors influencing public attitude toward vaccination, and techniques employed to identify these factors. Anti-vax, Pro-vax, and neutral are the major communities, while misinformation, vaccine campaign, and user demographics are the common individual factors assessed during this reviewing process. Twitter user sentiment (positive, negative, and neutral) and emotions (fear, trust, sadness) were also discussed to identify the intentions to accept or refuse vaccines. SVM, LDA, BERT are the techniques used for topic modeling, while Louvain, NodeXL, and Infomap algorithms are used for community detection. This research is notable for being the first systematic review that emphasizes the dearth of longitudinal studies and the methodological and underlying practical constraints underpinning the lucrative implementation of an explainable and longitudinal behavior analysis system. Moreover, new possible research directions are suggested for the researchers to perform accurate human behavior analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sulaiman Khan
- College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Md. Rafiul Biswas
- College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Zubair Shah
- College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
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Barrière J, Frank F, Besancon L, Samuel A, Saada V, Billy E, Al-Ahmad A, Florens N, Seitz-Polski B, Robert J. Letter to Editor "Innate immune suppression by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccinations: The role of G-quadruplexes, exosomes, and MicroRNAs": Important concerns on the validity of this article. Food Chem Toxicol 2023; 178:113897. [PMID: 37328089 PMCID: PMC10265941 DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2023.113897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jérôme Barrière
- Medical Oncology Department, Polyclinique Saint-Jean, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France.
| | | | - Lonni Besancon
- Media and Information Technology, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden
| | | | - Véronique Saada
- Biopathology Department, Gustave Roussy Anticancer Canter, Villejuif, France
| | | | - Abraham Al-Ahmad
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center - Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy, Amarillo, TX, United States
| | - Nans Florens
- Department of Nephrology, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Barbara Seitz-Polski
- Department of Immunology & UR2CA, Côte d'Azur University, CHU Nice, 151 Route Saint-Antoine de Ginestière, 06200, Nice, France
| | - Jacques Robert
- Université de Bordeaux, INSERM Unité 1312, 229 Cours de l'Argonne, 33076, Bordeaux, France
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Machado Júnior C, Mantovani DMN, de Sandes-Guimarães LV, Romeiro MDC, Furlaneto CJ, Bazanini R. Volatility of the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: sentiment analysis conducted in Brazil. Front Public Health 2023; 11:1192155. [PMID: 37483947 PMCID: PMC10360403 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1192155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Vaccine hesitancy is a phenomenon that can interfere with the expansion of vaccination coverage and is positioned as one of the top 10 global health threats. Previous studies have explored factors that affect vaccine hesitancy, how it behaves in different locations, and the profile of individuals in which it is most present. However, few studies have analyzed the volatility of vaccine hesitancy. Objective Identify the volatility of vaccine hesitancy manifested in social media. Methods Twitter's academic application programming interface was used to retrieve all tweets in Brazilian Portuguese mentioning the COVID-19 vaccine in 3 months (October 2020, June 2021, and October 2021), retrieving 1,048,576 tweets. A sentiment analysis was performed using the Orange software with the lexicon Multilingual sentiment in Portuguese. Results The feelings associated with vaccine hesitancy were volatile within 1 month, as well as throughout the vaccination process, being positioned as a resilient phenomenon. The themes that nurture vaccine hesitancy change dynamically and swiftly and are often associated with other topics that are also affecting society. Conclusion People that manifest the vaccine hesitancy present arguments that vary in a short period of time, what demand that government strategies to mitigate vaccine hesitancy effects be agile and counteract the expressed fear, by presenting scientific arguments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Celso Machado Júnior
- Laboratory of Health Education, Institute of Innovation Multidisciplinary, Department of Administration, Municipal University of São Caetano do Sul, São Caetano do Sul, Brazil
- Laboratory of Biodiversity, Biogeography and Conservation, Department Health Sciences, Institute of Biological Sciences, University Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Daielly Melina Nassif Mantovani
- Laboratory of Quantitative Methods and Informatics, Department of Administration, Institute of Analytics and Open Data, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Luísa Veras de Sandes-Guimarães
- Laboratory of Health Education, Institute of Innovation Multidisciplinary, Department of Administration, Municipal University of São Caetano do Sul, São Caetano do Sul, Brazil
| | - Maria do Carmo Romeiro
- Laboratory of Health Education, Institute of Innovation Multidisciplinary, Department of Administration, Municipal University of São Caetano do Sul, São Caetano do Sul, Brazil
| | - Cristiane Jaciara Furlaneto
- Laboratory of Health Education, Institute of Innovation Multidisciplinary, Department of Administration, Municipal University of São Caetano do Sul, São Caetano do Sul, Brazil
- Laboratory of Biodiversity, Biogeography and Conservation, Department Health Sciences, Institute of Biological Sciences, University Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Roberto Bazanini
- Laboratory of Biodiversity, Biogeography and Conservation, Department Health Sciences, Institute of Biological Sciences, University Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
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Kwon S, Park A. Examining thematic and emotional differences across Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube: The case of COVID-19 vaccine side effects. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR 2023; 144:107734. [PMID: 36942128 PMCID: PMC10016349 DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2023.107734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023]
Abstract
Social media discourse has become a key data source for understanding the public's perception of, and sentiments during a public health crisis. However, given the different niches which platforms occupy in terms of information exchange, reliance on a single platform would provide an incomplete picture of public opinions. Based on the schema theory, this study suggests a 'social media platform schema' to indicate users' different expectations based on previous usages of platform and argues that a platform's distinct characteristics foster distinct platform schema and, in turn, distinct nature of information. We analyzed COVID-19 vaccine side effect-related discussions from Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube, each of which represents a different type of the platform, and found thematic and emotional differences across platforms. Thematic analysis using k-means clustering algorithm identified seven clusters in each platform. To computationally group and contrast thematic clusters across platforms, we employed modularity analysis using the Louvain algorithm to determine a semantic network structure based on themes. We also observed differences in emotional contexts across platforms. Theoretical and public health implications are then discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soyeon Kwon
- Department of Management Information System, College of Business, Dongguk University, 30, Pildong-ro 1gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, 04620, Republic of Korea
| | - Albert Park
- Department of Software and Information Systems, College of Computing and Informatics, UNC Charlotte, Woodward 310H, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA
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Honcharov V, Li J, Sierra M, Rivadeneira NA, Olazo K, Nguyen TT, Mackey TK, Sarkar U. Public Figure Vaccination Rhetoric and Vaccine Hesitancy: Retrospective Twitter Analysis. JMIR INFODEMIOLOGY 2023; 3:e40575. [PMID: 37113377 PMCID: PMC10039410 DOI: 10.2196/40575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/27/2022] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Background Social media has emerged as a critical mass communication tool, with both health information and misinformation now spread widely on the web. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, some public figures promulgated anti-vaccine attitudes, which spread widely on social media platforms. Although anti-vaccine sentiment has pervaded social media throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unclear to what extent interest in public figures is generating anti-vaccine discourse. Objective We examined Twitter messages that included anti-vaccination hashtags and mentions of public figures to assess the connection between interest in these individuals and the possible spread of anti-vaccine messages. Methods We used a data set of COVID-19-related Twitter posts collected from the public streaming application programming interface from March to October 2020 and filtered it for anti-vaccination hashtags "antivaxxing," "antivaxx," "antivaxxers," "antivax," "anti-vaxxer," "discredit," "undermine," "confidence," and "immune." Next, we applied the Biterm Topic model (BTM) to output topic clusters associated with the entire corpus. Topic clusters were manually screened by examining the top 10 posts most highly correlated in each of the 20 clusters, from which we identified 5 clusters most relevant to public figures and vaccination attitudes. We extracted all messages from these clusters and conducted inductive content analysis to characterize the discourse. Results Our keyword search yielded 118,971 Twitter posts after duplicates were removed, and subsequently, we applied BTM to parse these data into 20 clusters. After removing retweets, we manually screened the top 10 tweets associated with each cluster (200 messages) to identify clusters associated with public figures. Extraction of these clusters yielded 768 posts for inductive analysis. Most messages were either pro-vaccination (n=329, 43%) or neutral about vaccination (n=425, 55%), with only 2% (14/768) including anti-vaccination messages. Three main themes emerged: (1) anti-vaccination accusation, in which the message accused the public figure of holding anti-vaccination beliefs; (2) using "anti-vax" as an epithet; and (3) stating or implying the negative public health impact of anti-vaccination discourse. Conclusions Most discussions surrounding public figures in common hashtags labelled as "anti-vax" did not reflect anti-vaccination beliefs. We observed that public figures with known anti-vaccination beliefs face scorn and ridicule on Twitter. Accusing public figures of anti-vaccination attitudes is a means of insulting and discrediting the public figure rather than discrediting vaccines. The majority of posts in our sample condemned public figures expressing anti-vax beliefs by undermining their influence, insulting them, or expressing concerns over public health ramifications. This points to a complex information ecosystem, where anti-vax sentiment may not reside in common anti-vax-related keywords or hashtags, necessitating further assessment of the influence that public figures have on this discourse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vlad Honcharov
- Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Center for Vulnerable Populations University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
| | - Jiawei Li
- S-3 Research LLC San Diego, CA United States
- Global Health Policy and Data Institute San Diego, CA United States
| | - Maribel Sierra
- Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Center for Vulnerable Populations University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
| | - Natalie A Rivadeneira
- Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Center for Vulnerable Populations University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
| | - Kristan Olazo
- Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Center for Vulnerable Populations University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
| | - Thu T Nguyen
- Department of Family and Community Medicine University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics University of Maryland School of Public Health College Park, MD United States
| | - Tim K Mackey
- S-3 Research LLC San Diego, CA United States
- Global Health Policy and Data Institute San Diego, CA United States
- Global Health Program Department of Anthropology University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA United States
| | - Urmimala Sarkar
- Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Center for Vulnerable Populations University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
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Corinti F, Pontillo D, Giansanti D. COVID-19 and the Infodemic: An Overview of the Role and Impact of Social Media, the Evolution of Medical Knowledge, and Emerging Problems. Healthcare (Basel) 2022; 10:healthcare10040732. [PMID: 35455910 PMCID: PMC9027783 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare10040732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Revised: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The infodemic is an important component of the cyber-risk in regard to the poor and uncontrolled dissemination of information related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to perform a narrative review based on three points of view to allow for an overall picture of this issue. The points of view focused on: (a) the volume of use of social media (a key element of the infodemic) and the position of international health domain bodies; (b) the evolution of scientific production in the life sciences; (c) emerging issues. The research methodology was based on Google and PubMed searches and a qualification process based on a standard checklist and an evaluation of eligibility based on parameters with five score levels applied by two experts (plus one in case of discrepancy). The three points of view stressed the key role of social media as a dissemination tool of the infodemic among citizens. The impact on citizens depends on various social factors and involves indirect (e.g., vaccine avoidance) and direct risks such as mental problems and the risk of suicide. The widespread diffusion of social media, conveyed by mobile technologies, also suggests their use as countermeasures, calibrated based on citizens’ level of both technological and health literacy. Effective and promising countermeasures in this direction are based both on initiatives of contact by apps or SMS and the collection of data based on surveys and finalized to the particular intervention. The review also suggests as further areas of in-depth research: (a) to combat high-level infodemic produced by scientific publications that are not yet official (preprint) or that have undergone peer review with bias/distortion; (b) focusing on the impact of the infodemic considering its spread in different languages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Corinti
- Facoltà di Medicina e Psicologia, Università Sapienza, 00185 Roma, Italy; (F.C.); (D.P.)
| | - Daniela Pontillo
- Facoltà di Medicina e Psicologia, Università Sapienza, 00185 Roma, Italy; (F.C.); (D.P.)
| | - Daniele Giansanti
- Centro Tisp, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Roma, Italy
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-06-4990-2701
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