Twitter use in scientific communication revealed by visualization of information spreading by influencers within half a year after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident

Abstract

Scientific communication through social media, particularly Twitter has been gaining importance in recent years. As such, it is critical to understand how information is transmitted and dispersed through outlets such as Twitter, particularly in emergency situations where there is an urgent need to relay scientific information. The purpose of this study is to examine how original tweets and retweets on Twitter were used to diffuse radiation related information after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Out of the Twitter database, we purchased all tweets (including replies) and retweets related to Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident and or radiation sent from March 2nd, 2011 to September 15th, 2011. This time frame represents the first six months after the East Japan earthquake, which occurred on March 11th, 2011. Using the obtained data, we examined the number of tweets and retweets and found that only a small number of Twitter users were the source of the original posts that were retweeted during the study period. We have termed these specific accounts as “influencers”. We identified the top 100 influencers and classified the contents of their tweets into 3 groups by analyzing the document vectors of the text. Then, we examined the number of retweets for each of the 3 groups of influencers, and created a retweet network diagram to assess how the contents of their tweets were being spread. The keyword “radiation” was mentioned in over 24 million tweets and retweets during the study period. Retweets accounted for roughly half (49.7%) of this number, and the top 2% of Twitter accounts defined as “influencers” were the source of the original posts that accounted for 80.3% of the total retweets. The majority of the top 100 influencers had individual Twitter accounts bearing real names. While retweets were intensively diffused within a fixed population, especially within the same groups with similar document vectors, a group of influencers accounted for the majority of retweets one month after the disaster, and the share of each group did not change even after proven scientific information became more available.

Analyzing Twitter Conversation on Genome-Edited Foods and Their Labeling in Japan

“…The maximum tweet count per day reached 1,343,045 tweets on the election day: June 5. In terms of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, which was directly related to life-threatening and energy problems, approximately 25 million tweets were posted within a span of 195 days, and the maximum tweet count per day was more than 640,000 (Tsubokura et al, 2018). Comparing these politically and socially hot topics, the issue on labeling of genome-edited food seemed to draw less attention on Twitter.…”

YouTube Videos Related to the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Content Analysis

“…Some studies have also reported on misleading health information on social media [23,25]. After the Fukushima nuclear accident, 80% of the total number of tweets on Twitter were created by 2% of influential accounts [26]. However, YouTube users can find varied videos when they conduct searches with keywords.…”

Influencers and COVID-19: reviewing key issues in press coverage across Australia, China, Japan, and South Korea

“…In Japan, academic research has mostly focused on the role of social media and influencers in the aftermath of natural disasters like the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami (Hashimoto and Ohama, 2014; Tsubokura et al, 2018). A study on the diffusion of scientific information on Twitter found that the vast majority of tweets concerning the nuclear disaster had been initially produced by a small group of influencers, who have since been deemed important collaborators for diffusing reliable information to the general public (Tsubokura et al, 2018: 2).…”

“…In Japan, academic research has mostly focused on the role of social media and influencers in the aftermath of natural disasters like the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami (Hashimoto and Ohama, 2014; Tsubokura et al, 2018). A study on the diffusion of scientific information on Twitter found that the vast majority of tweets concerning the nuclear disaster had been initially produced by a small group of influencers, who have since been deemed important collaborators for diffusing reliable information to the general public (Tsubokura et al, 2018: 2). We can observe an alternative approach to Japanese social media research in the work of anthropologist Gabriella Lukács (2020), whose study explored different categories of female influencers – for example, net idols and bloggers – calling attention to the processes of value extraction that have affected women in the Japanese digital economy.…”