Using big data to understand the online ecology of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy
Abstract With a large population of people vaccinated, it is possible that at-risk people are shielded, and the coronavirus disease is contained. Given the low vaccine uptakes, achieving herd immunity via vaccination campaigns can be challenging. After a literature review, we found a paucity of rese...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01185-6 |
| _version_ | 1811338743423959040 |
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| author | Shasha Teng Nan Jiang Kok Wei Khong |
| author_facet | Shasha Teng Nan Jiang Kok Wei Khong |
| author_sort | Shasha Teng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract With a large population of people vaccinated, it is possible that at-risk people are shielded, and the coronavirus disease is contained. Given the low vaccine uptakes, achieving herd immunity via vaccination campaigns can be challenging. After a literature review, we found a paucity of research studies of vaccine hesitancy from social media settings. This study aims to categorise and create a typology of social media contents and assess the priority of concerns for future public health messaging. With a dataset of 43,203 YouTube comments, we applied text analytics and multiple regression analyses to examine the correlations between vaccine hesitancy factors and vaccination intention. Our major findings are (i) Polarized views on vaccines existed in the social media ecology of public discourse, with a majority of people unwilling to get vaccinated against COVID-19; (ii) Reasons behind vaccine hesitancy included concerns about vaccine safety, potential side-effects, lack of trust in government and pharmaceutical companies; (iii) Political partisan-preferences were exemplified in vaccine decision-making processes; (iv) Anti-vaccine movements with amplified misinformation fuelled vaccine hesitancy and undermined public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. We suggest public health practitioners engage in social media and craft evidenced-based messages to online communities in a balanced and palatable way. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T18:15:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f4f6e632165045b5851288113c38f1df |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T18:15:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-f4f6e632165045b5851288113c38f1df2022-12-22T02:35:42ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922022-05-019111510.1057/s41599-022-01185-6Using big data to understand the online ecology of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancyShasha Teng0Nan Jiang1Kok Wei Khong2Faculty of Business and Law, Taylor’s UniversityFaculty of Business and Law, Taylor’s UniversityFaculty of Business and Law, Taylor’s UniversityAbstract With a large population of people vaccinated, it is possible that at-risk people are shielded, and the coronavirus disease is contained. Given the low vaccine uptakes, achieving herd immunity via vaccination campaigns can be challenging. After a literature review, we found a paucity of research studies of vaccine hesitancy from social media settings. This study aims to categorise and create a typology of social media contents and assess the priority of concerns for future public health messaging. With a dataset of 43,203 YouTube comments, we applied text analytics and multiple regression analyses to examine the correlations between vaccine hesitancy factors and vaccination intention. Our major findings are (i) Polarized views on vaccines existed in the social media ecology of public discourse, with a majority of people unwilling to get vaccinated against COVID-19; (ii) Reasons behind vaccine hesitancy included concerns about vaccine safety, potential side-effects, lack of trust in government and pharmaceutical companies; (iii) Political partisan-preferences were exemplified in vaccine decision-making processes; (iv) Anti-vaccine movements with amplified misinformation fuelled vaccine hesitancy and undermined public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. We suggest public health practitioners engage in social media and craft evidenced-based messages to online communities in a balanced and palatable way.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01185-6 |
| spellingShingle | Shasha Teng Nan Jiang Kok Wei Khong Using big data to understand the online ecology of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Using big data to understand the online ecology of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy |
| title_full | Using big data to understand the online ecology of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy |
| title_fullStr | Using big data to understand the online ecology of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using big data to understand the online ecology of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy |
| title_short | Using big data to understand the online ecology of COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy |
| title_sort | using big data to understand the online ecology of covid 19 vaccination hesitancy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01185-6 |
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