scholarly journals Bots as Active News Promoters: A Digital Analysis of COVID-19 Tweets

Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al-Rawi ◽  
Vishal Shukla
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Health Protection ◽  
Digital Analysis ◽  
Breaking News ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
Survival Skills

In this study, we examined the activities of automated social media accounts or bots that tweet or retweet referencing #COVID-19 and #COVID19. From a total sample of over 50 million tweets, we used a mixed method to extract more than 185,000 messages posted by 127 bots. Our findings show that the majority of these bots tweet, retweet and mention mainstream media outlets, promote health protection and telemedicine, and disseminate breaking news on the number of casualties and deaths caused by COVID-19. We argue that some of these bots are motivated by financial incentives, while other bots actively support the survivalist movement by emphasizing the need to prepare for the pandemic and learn survival skills. We only found a few bots that showed some suspicious activity probably due to the fact that our dataset was limited to two hashtags often used by official health bodies and academic communities.

Social media bots as active disseminators of COVID-19 news (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al-Rawi ◽  
Vishal Shukla
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Breaking News ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Credible Information ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
Standard Terms ◽  
Official Sources

BACKGROUND In this study, we examined the activities of automated social media accounts or bots that tweet or retweet referencing #COVID-19 and #COVID19. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to identify bot accounts to understand the nature of messages sent by them on COVID-19. Social media bots have been widely discussed in academic literature as some kind of moral panic mostly in relation to spreading controversial and politically polarized messages or in connection to problematic health bots (Broniatowski et al., 2018; Allem & Ferrara, 2018). The findings of this study, however, show that bots that reference COVID-19 mostly mention mainstream media and credible health sources while spreading breaking news on the pandemic or urging people to stay at home. These results align with previous research on the possible benefits, advantages, or possibilities afforded by the use of health chatbots (Brandtzaeg & Følstad, 2018; Skjuve & Brandtzæg, 2018; Kretzschmar et al., 2019; Greer et al., 2019). METHODS We used a mixed approach mostly comprised of several digital methods in this study. First, we collected 50,811,299 tweets and retweets referencing #COVID-19 and #COVID19 for a period of over two months from February 12 until April 18, 2020. We focused on these two hashtags because they are standard terms used by WHO and other official sources. From a total sample of over 50 million tweets, we used a mixed method to extract more than 185,000 messages posted by 127 bots. RESULTS Unlike the literature on health bots that associate them with anti-social activities, our findings show that the majority of these bots tweet, retweet and mention mainstream media outlets and credible official sources, promote health protection and telemedicine, and disseminate breaking news on the number of casualties and deaths caused by COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS Despite that some literature on social media bots highlight the controversial and anti-social nature of automated accounts, the findings of this study show that the majority of bots spread news on and awareness of COVID-19 risks while citing and referencing mainstream media outlets and credible health sources. We argue that there might be financial incentives behind designing some of these bots. However and if monitored and updated with credible information by health agencies themselves, we believe that bots can be useful during health crises due to their efficiency and speed in spreading valuable information, some of which is crucial for public health. CLINICALTRIAL N/A

scholarly journals I AM THE VIRUS: DIGITAL STORYTELLING AND FICTIONAL TWITTER ACCOUNTS IN THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS IN SPAIN

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoni Roig ◽  
Sandra Martorell
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Storytelling ◽  
Fictional Character ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Breaking News ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Hard Times ◽  
Twitter Account ◽  
Collective Empowerment

The purpose of this work is to understand the role of digital storytelling as a conversation asset regarding social and health emergencies, specifically fictional parody characters in social media, as chroniclers of ongoing crises. We will focus on a strikingly popular phenomenon: the Twitter account @coronavid19, where the virus, presented as a fictional character, offers a humorous chronicle in almost real time through social media, from the early breaking news related to the presence of the virus in the country to the unfolding of an unprecedented social and health crisis. The account got more than 450,000 followers in its first week of existence, coinciding with the first confirmed Covid19 cases in mainland Spain (February 2020) and was widely covered by mainstream media. It currently has more than 860.000 followers, which is way higher than official health and governmental Twitter accounts. This paradigmatic case study has been chosen considering its impact from the early stages of the pandemic, but also its peculiarities as a fictional character and a privileged chronicler in the first person. Our case analysis is aimed to understand how fictional parody characters are built in discursive and extra-discursive terms, how they interact with followers and how narrative and character traits evolve along the crisis. We also want to observe whether they add nuances to social discussion, reframe news content (emphasizing or downplaying events) and serve as a tool to cope with hard times, fostering collective empowerment, mutual empathy, while stressing official recommendations using irony and mocking irrational behaviour.

scholarly journals Quantifying Media Effects, Its Content, and Role in Promoting Community Awareness of Chikungunya Epidemic in Bangladesh

Epidemiologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Mst. Marium Begum ◽  
Osman Ulvi ◽  
Ajlina Karamehic-Muratovic ◽  
Mallory R. Walsh ◽  
Hasan Tarek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Media Outlet ◽  
And Control

Background: Chikungunya is a vector-borne disease, mostly present in tropical and subtropical regions. The virus is spread by Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitos and symptoms include high fever to severe joint pain. Dhaka, Bangladesh, suffered an outbreak of chikungunya in 2017 lasting from April to September. With the goal of reducing cases, social media was at the forefront during this outbreak and educated the public about symptoms, prevention, and control of the virus. Popular web-based sources such as the top dailies in Bangladesh, local news outlets, and Facebook spread awareness of the outbreak. Objective: This study sought to investigate the role of social and mainstream media during the chikungunya epidemic. The study objective was to determine if social media can improve awareness of and practice associated with reducing cases of chikungunya. Methods: We collected chikungunya-related information circulated from the top nine television channels in Dhaka, Bangladesh, airing from 1st April–20th August 2017. All the news published in the top six dailies in Bangladesh were also compiled. The 50 most viewed chikungunya-related Bengali videos were manually coded and analyzed. Other social media outlets, such as Facebook, were also analyzed to determine the number of chikungunya-related posts and responses to these posts. Results: Our study showed that media outlets were associated with reducing cases of chikungunya, indicating that media has the potential to impact future outbreaks of these alpha viruses. Each media outlet (e.g., web, television) had an impact on the human response to an individual’s healthcare during this outbreak. Conclusions: To prevent future outbreaks of chikungunya, media outlets and social media can be used to educate the public regarding prevention strategies such as encouraging safe travel, removing stagnant water sources, and assisting with tracking cases globally to determine where future outbreaks may occur.

Novel interfaces in science communication: Comparing journalistic and social media uptake of articles published by The Conversation Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252110193
Author(s):  
Lars Guenther ◽  
Marina Joubert
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Public Science ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Agenda Setter ◽  
Or Economics ◽  
Media Ecosystem

Science amplifier platforms such as The Conversation have gained popularity in a changing media ecosystem in which the traditional roles of journalists are eroded, and scientists are urged to engage with society. The Conversation constitutes a blend of scientific communication, public science communication and science journalism, and a convergence of the professional worlds of science and journalism. In this study, we investigated the nature and impact of the Africa-focussed edition of this platform, The Conversation Africa. We analysed articles published over a 5-year period since its launch in 2015 ( N = 5392). Contents from South Africa dominate the platform, but contributions from other African countries are increasing. Regarding the role of The Conversation Africa as an inter-media agenda setter, mainstream media more often republished stories related to politics or economics, while stories about social issues such as education, conservation and art were more often shared on social media.

scholarly journals Affective communication: a mixed method investigation into COVID-19 outbreak communication using the Taiwanese government Facebook page

2021 ◽  
pp. 175797592110035
Author(s):  
Chia Yu Lien ◽  
Yun-Hsuan Wu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Health Authority ◽  
Disease Outbreak ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Affective Communication ◽  
Frontline Workers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Quantitative Results

The COVID-19 outbreak has created an unprecedented challenge for governments to convey information to the public, and social media has become a critical method of COVID-19 communication in Taiwan. Objectives: This study examines a total of 1128 Facebook posts published by Taiwan’s principal health authority from December 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020. Methods: Using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, this study investigates strategies used by the Taiwan government to communicate the COVID-19 outbreak and public responses toward these strategies. Result: Novel uses of Facebook posts on outbreak communication were identified, including solidarity, reviews of actions, press conferences, and the use of animal and cartoon images. Quantitative results showed that the public responded significantly more frequently to messages generating positive affects, such as posts that reviewed government actions and public efforts; posts that expressed thanks, approval, or comradeship; and posts that paired text with photographs of frontline workers or cute animals. Conclusion: These results suggest that, amid a disease outbreak, the public not only look for updated situations and guidelines but also for affective affirmation from government agencies.

What the fake? Assessing the extent of networked political spamming and bots in the propagation of #fakenews on Twitter

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al-Rawi ◽  
Jacob Groshek ◽  
Li Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
News Discourse ◽  
Twitter Data ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
One Year

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine one of the largest data sets on the hashtag use of #fakenews that comprises over 14m tweets sent by more than 2.4m users.Design/methodology/approachTweets referencing the hashtag (#fakenews) were collected for a period of over one year from January 3 to May 7 of 2018. Bot detection tools were employed, and the most retweeted posts, most mentions and most hashtags as well as the top 50 most active users in terms of the frequency of their tweets were analyzed.FindingsThe majority of the top 50 Twitter users are more likely to be automated bots, while certain users’ posts like that are sent by President Donald Trump dominate the most retweeted posts that always associate mainstream media with fake news. The most used words and hashtags show that major news organizations are frequently referenced with a focus on CNN that is often mentioned in negative ways.Research limitations/implicationsThe research study is limited to the examination of Twitter data, while ethnographic methods like interviews or surveys are further needed to complement these findings. Though the data reported here do not prove direct effects, the implications of the research provide a vital framework for assessing and diagnosing the networked spammers and main actors that have been pivotal in shaping discourses around fake news on social media. These discourses, which are sometimes assisted by bots, can create a potential influence on audiences and their trust in mainstream media and understanding of what fake news is.Originality/valueThis paper offers results on one of the first empirical research studies on the propagation of fake news discourse on social media by shedding light on the most active Twitter users who discuss and mention the term “#fakenews” in connection to other news organizations, parties and related figures.

Homicide and media: ‘realities’ and ‘representations’

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Yardley
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Mainstream Media

This chapter considers existing criminological insights into homicide and identifies the key themes and perspectives that emerge at the intersection of homicide and mainstream media. We might think of perpetrators like Derek Medina, Randy Janzen and Amanda Taylor as aberrations who are fundamentally different from the rest of us, or make sense of their social media posts in relation to the crimes they committed as simply another manifestation of their transgression. However, all three individuals have lived out their lives in the same world as us. Before they were killers — and indeed afterwards — they were ‘prosumers’ of mediated representations of homicide, as we all are. The chapter first addresses questions of definition, scale and nature before examining how the field of criminology has made sense of homicide in media in terms of what emerges as important and what is missing from such analyses.

scholarly journals Health-Related Disaster Communication and Social Media: Mixed-Method Systematic Review

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 1389-1400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stine Eckert ◽  
Pradeep Sopory ◽  
Ashleigh Day ◽  
Lee Wilkins ◽  
Donyale Padgett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Disaster Communication ◽  
Health Related

scholarly journals The Influence of YouTube Beauty Vloggers on Indonesian Consumers’ Purchase Intention of Local Cosmetic Products

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Jui-Lung Chen ◽  
Apritika Dermawan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Marketing Tool ◽  
Willingness To Purchase ◽  
The Impact

Social media are web-based technology and social platform that involve social, personal and technological factors, which have triggered the development and evolution of website-based communities. Moreover, relevant web-based applications have also become the mainstream media for value creation and information exchange. The proliferation, convenience, and immediacy of social media have attracted many enterprises to adopt social media as a marketing tool. Among them, Electronic Word-of-Mouth (E-WoM), used mostly by vloggers (video bloggers), enables its users to review products and express their opinions on social media. Therefore, E-WoM has gradually become an important source of information for consumers, which influences their purchasing decisions. YouTube, a video sharing platform affiliated with Google, is a popular social media with tons of users. One of its most appealing and popular communities is Beauty Blogger, where beauty vloggers create and upload videos about beauty products. This study explored the impact of YouTube beauty vlogger on the attitude of Indonesian women towards locally made cosmetics and their willingness to purchase them. Based on the research results, relevant conclusions and recommendations were proposed which can be used as a reference for future research and practical applications.

scholarly journals The Role of Social Media in Learning Physics: Teacher and Student Perceptions

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-166
Author(s):  
Rika Dwi Kurniati ◽  
◽  
Doni Andra ◽  
I Wayan Distrik ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Physics Learning ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Physics Teacher ◽  
The World ◽  
Teacher And Student Perceptions ◽  
Preliminary Study

This study aims to determine the role of social media in learning. We know that today, social media has an indispensable role in the learning process. In addition, social media has made it a smaller world through social media so that people from anywhere in the world can interact without being limited by distance and time. This study used a mixed-method consisting of qualitative and quantitative data. This research involved 308 students in Lampung province. The results of the research conducted stated that 65% of students used smartphones in learning. 73.2% of students stated that the application that is often opened is social media. 87.2% stated that the most frequently accessed social media is chatting media. 48.2% of students prefer playing on social media for learning physics. 72.3% of students stated that they prefer to discuss through chatting media. Based on the results of the preliminary study, the role of social media is very active, 48% of students stated that they use social media for learning discussions. . 43% of teachers stated that they always use social media to support learning. Keywords: social media, physics learning, smartphone

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document