Managing social media rumors and misinformation during outbreaks

Health-Related Rumor Control through Social Collaboration Models: Lessons from Cases in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Widely spread health-related rumors may mislead the public, escalate social panic, compromise government credibility, and threaten public health. Social collaboration models that maximize the functions and advantages of various agents of socialization can be a promising way to control health-related rumors. Existing research on health-related rumors, however, is limited in studying how various agents collaborate with each other to debunk rumors. This study utilizes content analysis to code the text data of health-related rumor cases in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that socialized rumor-debunking models could be divided into the following five categories: the government-led model, the media-led model, the scientific community-led model, the rumor-debunking platform-led model, and the multi-agent collaborative model. In addition, since rumors in public health crises often involve different objects, rumor refutation requires various information sources; therefore, different rumor-debunking models apply. This study verifies the value of socialized collaborative rumor debunking, advocates and encourages the participation of multiple agents of socialization and provides guidance for establishing a collaborative rumor-debunking model, thereby promoting efficient rumor-debunking methods and improving the healthcare of society.

WhatsApp-Based Focus Groups Among Mexican-Origin Women in Zika Risk Area: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Data Quality

Background

Despite unprecedented advances in worldwide access to the internet via smartphones, barriers to engaging hard-to-reach populations remain in many methods of health research. A potential avenue for conducting qualitative research is via participatory web-based media, including the free, popular social platform WhatsApp. However, despite the clear advantages of engaging with participants over a well-established web-based platform, logistical challenges remain.

Objective

This study aims to report evidence on the feasibility and acceptability of WhatsApp as a method to conduct focus groups.

Methods

A pilot focus group was conducted with Spanish-speaking women near the US–Mexico border. The content focus was knowledge and perceived risks for exposure to the Zika virus during pregnancy.

Results

Evidence was obtained regarding WhatsApp as a low-cost, logistically feasible methodology that resulted in rich qualitative data from a population that is often reticent to engage in traditional research. A total of 5 participants participated in a focus group, of whom all 5 consistently contributed to the focus group chat in WhatsApp, which was conducted over 3 consecutive days.

Conclusions

The findings are noteworthy at a time when face-to-face focus groups, the gold standard, are risky or precluded by safe COVID-19 guidelines. Other implications include more applications and evaluations of WhatsApp for delivering one-on-one or group health education interventions on sensitive topics. This paper outlines the key steps and considerations for the replication or adaptation of methods.

Nature and Diffusion of COVID-19-related Oral Health Information on Chinese Social Media: Analysis of Tweets on Weibo

BACKGROUND

Social media has become increasingly important as a source of information for the public and is widely used for health-related information. The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has exerted a negative impact on dental practices.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to analyze the nature and diffusion of COVID-19-related oral health information on the Chinese social media site Weibo.

METHODS

A total of 15,900 tweets related to oral health and dentistry information from Weibo during the COVID-19 outbreak in China (December 31, 2019, to March 16, 2020) were included in our study. Two researchers coded 1000 of the total tweets in advance, and two main thematic categories with eight subtypes were refined. The included tweets were analyzed over time and geographic region, and coded into eight thematic categories. Additionally, the time distributions of tweets containing information about dental services, needs of dental treatment, and home oral care during the COVID-19 epidemic were further analyzed.

RESULTS

People reacted rapidly to the emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 threat to dental services, and a large amount of COVID-19-related oral health information was tweeted on Weibo. The time and geographic distribution of tweets shared similarities with epidemiological data of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Tweets containing home oral care and dental services content were the most frequently exchanged information (n=4803/15,900, 30.20% and n=4478, 28.16%, respectively). Significant differences of public attention were found between various types of bloggers in dental services-related tweets (P<.001), and the tweets from the government and media engaged the most public attention. The distributions of tweets containing information about dental services, needs of dental treatment, and home oral care information dynamically changed with time.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study overviewed and analyzed social media data on the dental services and oral health information during the COVID-19 epidemic, thus, providing insights for government organizations, media, and dental professionals to better facilitate oral health communication and efficiently shape public concern through social media when routine dental services are unavailable during an unprecedented event. The study of the nature and distribution of social media can serve as a useful adjunct tool to help make public health policies.

Women's Health Perceptions and Beliefs Related to Zika Virus Exposure during the 2016 Outbreak in Northern Brazil

During the 2016 Zika pandemic in Brazil, women's perceptions of infection risk, ability to adhere to Zika prevention strategies, or access to services following exposure were not emphasized in the public health response. Women in Fortaleza, Brazil, responded to a questionnaire on social factors related to perceived Zika risk and access to health care in June 2016. Data were coded using prespecified categories, and response frequency was reported. Of 37 respondents, most reported a lack of public services to support mosquito control (n = 19) or delayed access to reproductive health care (n = 14). Only 22% described specific maternal risks or fetal outcomes as a consequence of Zika infection. Respondents indicated an overall disconnect between public health efforts and women's perceptions of their reproductive control, including limited support concerning microcephaly in infants. Interventions targeting Zika may require a greater emphasis on strengthening health systems and infrastructure to realistically prevent transmission.

COVID-19-Related Web Search Behaviors and Infodemic Attitudes in Italy: Infodemiological Study

BACKGROUND

Since the beginning of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, fake news and misleading information have circulated worldwide, which can profoundly affect public health communication.

OBJECTIVE

We investigated online search behavior related to the COVID-19 outbreak and the attitudes of "infodemic monikers" (ie, erroneous information that gives rise to interpretative mistakes, fake news, episodes of racism, etc) circulating in Italy.

METHODS

By using Google Trends to explore the internet search activity related to COVID-19 from January to March 2020, article titles from the most read newspapers and government websites were mined to investigate the attitudes of infodemic monikers circulating across various regions and cities in Italy. Search volume values and average peak comparison (APC) values were used to analyze the results.

RESULTS

Keywords such as "novel coronavirus," "China coronavirus," "COVID-19," "2019-nCOV," and "SARS-COV-2" were the top infodemic and scientific COVID-19 terms trending in Italy. The top five searches related to health were "face masks," "amuchina" (disinfectant), "symptoms of the novel coronavirus," "health bulletin," and "vaccines for coronavirus." The regions of Umbria and Basilicata recorded a high number of infodemic monikers (APC weighted total >140). Misinformation was widely circulated in the Campania region, and racism-related information was widespread in Umbria and Basilicata. These monikers were frequently searched (APC weighted total >100) in more than 10 major cities in Italy, including Rome.

CONCLUSIONS

We identified a growing regional and population-level interest in COVID-19 in Italy. The majority of searches were related to amuchina, face masks, health bulletins, and COVID-19 symptoms. Since a large number of infodemic monikers were observed across Italy, we recommend that health agencies use Google Trends to predict human behavior as well as to manage misinformation circulation in Italy.