Social Media's Initial Reaction to Information and Misinformation on Ebola, August 2014: Facts and Rumors

Abstract

Objective. We analyzed misinformation about Ebola circulating on Twitter and Sina Weibo, the leading Chinese microblog platform, at the outset of the global response to the 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic to help public health agencies develop their social media communication strategies. We obtained and analyzed a 1% random sample of tweets containing the keyword Ebola. We retrieved all Sina Weibo posts with Chinese keywords for Ebola for analysis. We analyzed changes in frequencies of keywords, hashtags, and Web links using relative risk (RR) and c 2 feature selection algorithm. We identified misinformation by manual coding and categorizing randomly selected sub-datasets.Results. We identified two speculative treatments (i.e., bathing in or drinking saltwater and ingestion of Nano Silver, an experimental drug) in our analysis of changes in frequencies of keywords and hashtags. Saltwater was speculated to be protective against Ebola in Batch 1 tweets but their mentions decreased in Batch 2 (RR50.11 for "salt" and RR50.14 for "water"). Nano Silver mentions were higher in Batch 2 than in Batch 1 (RR510.5). In our manually coded samples, Ebola-related misinformation constituted about 2% of Twitter and Sina Weibo content. A range of 36%-58% of the posts were news about the Ebola outbreak and 19%-24% of the posts were health information and responses to misinformation in both batches. In Batch 2, 43% of Chinese microblogs focused on the Chinese government sending medical assistance to Guinea.Conclusion. Misinformation about Ebola was circulated at a very low level globally in social media in either batch. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of social media posts can provide relevant information to public health agencies during emergency responses.

How did Ebola Information Spread on Twitter: Broadcasting or Viral Spreading? (Preprint)

“…For example, does Zika-related information diffuse on Twitter differently than that of Ebola-related information [14]? Following a similar line of thought, future research may study whether Ebola-related misinformation spreads differently on Twitter networks compared with correct scientific information [15].…”

Social Media Channels in Health Care Research and Rising Ethical Issues

“…• The impact of social networks on perceived social support (e.g., of patients with chronic diseases) [7] • How social media users gather and exchange health-related information and share personal experiences [8][9][10] • The spread of misinformation about disease outbreaks to inform public health communication strategies [11] • Recruiting patients in clinical trials [12,13] • The effect of social network media exposures on certain behaviors [14] • The spread of public health-related information (e.g., cancer awareness) and the prevalence of certain behaviors (e.g., opioid misuse) [15][16][17]. Thus the use of social media websites as research tools can bring new insight and possibly enhance understanding of how health-related communities meet different needs [18].…”

Digital Technology and Mobile Applications Impact on Zika and Ebola Epidemics Data Sharing and Emergency Response

“…Addressing the dreadful epidemics impact on health and economic requires innovative capabilities to support health systems and frontline workforce, in fostering continuous risk communication and awareness for timely decision making policies, readiness and rapid response interventions strategies improvements and frontline such as enhanced ICT-based and social media applications benefits [2,7,17]. Real time, comprehensive and reliable access to and advocacy for use of Zika virus epidemics data and information can be very timely in risk identification, magnitude of transmission and spread within and between populations, early community alertness and awareness, risk communication, prognosis and early warning, social mobilization and community engagement.…”

“…In such innovative approaches that connect biomedical and social sciences, that are community-based, and that use new technology that proactively forecast/anticipate, detect, and respond to current and emerging threats, while providing primary healthcare coverage for all. Full spectrum of promotion of national health systems prevention, treatment, and care services in an inclusive way that provides equal access and brings new opportunities and benefits to personalized medicine, technology and social practices to a globalised world [6,7]. However, digital innovations during and post-Zika and Ebola outbreak continue to be developed; unforeseen consequences should be tackled promptly [5,6].…”

“…Therefore, social media misinformation, fear mongering and information abuse does not only lead to lack of trust in government and health officials, but may desensitize individuals to the severity of the virus. This can lead to people not taking proper safety and precautionary measures when travelling, and reaching out adequate guidelines and traveller update in emergency epidemics [2,7,26,27]. Such patient or uncertified images of suffering and display of Ebola patients in the media also raises questions regarding informed consent, dignity and privacy.…”