Characterizing COVID-19 Content Posted to TikTok: Public Sentiment and Response During the First Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to characterize COVID-19 content posted by users and disseminated via TikTok, a social media platform that has become known largely as an entertainment platform for viral video-sharing. We sought to capture how TikTok videos posted during the initial months of the COVID pandemic changed over time as cases accelerated. Methods This study is an observational analysis of sequential TikTok videos with #coronavirus from January to March 2020. Videos were independently coded to assess content (e.g., health relatedness, humor, fear, empathy), misinformation, and public sentiment. To assess engagement, we also codified how often videos were shared relative to their content. Results We coded 750 videos and approximately one in four videos tagged with #coronavirus featured health-related content such as featuring objects such as face masks, hand sanitizer, and other cleaning products. Most videos evoked “humor/parody,” whereas 15% and 6% evoked “fear” and “empathy”, respectively. TikTok videos posted in March 2020 had the largest number of shares and comments compared with January and February 2020. The proportion of shares and comments for “misleading and incorrect information” featured in videos was lower in March than in January and February 2020. There was no statistical difference between the share and comment counts of videos coded as "incorrect/incomplete" and "correct" over the entire time period. Conclusions Analyzing readily available social media platforms, such as TikTok provides real-time insights into public views, frequency and types of misinformation, and norms toward COVID-19. Analyzing TikTok videos has the potential to be used to inform public health messaging and public health mitigation strategies.

A Framework of AI-Based Approaches to Improving eHealth Literacy and Combating Infodemic

“…In general, the general public's concept of risk is likely to be poor, and this contributes to a sense of uncertainty and confusion. Therefore, during COVID-19 health information communication, it is important to emphasize the importance of: ( 1 ) honesty during times of uncertainty, ( 2 ) being transparent with the public about what is and is not known and the rapid development of new knowledge, ( 3 ) the use of clear and consistent language, ( 4 ) where possible, by consistent spokespeople who can demonstrate honesty, and ( 5 ) confidence in making decisions while demonstrating empathy and concern ( 84 , 85 ). Second, during COVID-19 pandemic, the key messages about wearing masks, washing hands, maintaining social distances, and vaccination are essential to help combat the pandemic.…”

“…In recent years, it was suggested that the increasing use of social networking media can supplement eHealth literacy (16). During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is apparent that social networking platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and others played significant roles in providing and exchanging health information (3)(4)(5)(6). In a recently proposed wedding cake model of health information (6), social media is depicted as the largest and last segment of the wedding cake, and it represents the vast amount of nearly unfiltered and uncontrolled information generated or amplified by the public.…”

“…Therefore, this new AI-augmented mashup construction system can recommend suitable follow-up component services to develop new mashups, thus facilitating dynamic requirements and behaviors (e.g., instant service selection). Given that mashup technologies have wide applicability in the education context 4 , we would like to advocate that mashup approaches, particularly AI-augmented mashup construction systems, should be widely available for dynamic and personalized construction of eHealth literacy education mashups. This powerful technology provides great flexibility and sustainability for complex, diverse, and dynamic needs of health literacy education for different populations with diverse backgrounds.…”

“…Since its conceptualization in Norman et al (1) in 2006, eHealth literacy, which represents an individual person's capability of finding, understanding, and using relevant health information from online resources, has emerged as an important research and education topic for a variety of related fields, including biomedical informatics, public health, social media, health communication, artificial intelligence (AI), and education, among others. Actually, looking for online health information has gradually become a popular web activity in recent years, akin to other daily web behaviors such as checking email and using search engines (2), and this trend has been dramatically accelerated during the global public health crisis of COVID-19 pandemic (3)(4)(5)(6). On one hand, during COVID-19 pandemic, nearly everybody in the whole society needs to access and comprehend online health information than ever before, in order to get prepared for COVID risk mitigation and/or for healthcare management.…”

“…On one hand, during COVID-19 pandemic, nearly everybody in the whole society needs to access and comprehend online health information than ever before, in order to get prepared for COVID risk mitigation and/or for healthcare management. On the other hand, huge amount of health information, misinformation, and disinformation about COVID-19 has been generated and flowing on the Internet, particularly on social media channels such as Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and others (3)(4)(5)(6). As a result, how to differentiate health information/misinformation/disinformation for an average person who might have different levels of eHealth literacy becomes a major social issue for both individual healthcare and public health.…”