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A Social Network Analysis of Tweets Related to Masks during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Wasim Ahmed

    (Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4SE, UK)

  • Josep Vidal-Alaball

    (Health Promotion in Rural Areas Research Group, Gerència Territorial de la Catalunya Central, Institut Català de la Salut, 08272 Sant Fruitós de Bages, Spain
    Unitat de Suport a la Recerca de la Catalunya Central, Fundació Institut Universitari per a la Recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina, 08272 Sant Fruitós de Bages, Spain)

  • Francesc Lopez Segui

    (TIC Salut Social, Generalitat de Catalunya, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    Center for Research in Health and Economics (CRES-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08002 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Pedro A. Moreno-Sánchez

    (School of Health Care and Social Work, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, 60100 Seinäjoki, Finland)

Abstract

Background: High compliance in wearing a mask is a crucial factor for stopping the transmission of COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, social media has been a key communication channel for citizens. This study focused on analyzing content from Twitter related to masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Twitter data were collected using the keyword “mask” from 27 June 2020 to 4 July 2020. The total number of tweets gathered were n = 452,430. A systematic random sample of 1% ( n = 4525) of tweets was analyzed using social network analysis. NodeXL (Social Media Research Foundation, California, CA, USA) was used to identify users ranked influential by betweenness centrality and was used to identify key hashtags and content. Results: The overall shape of the network resembled a community network because there was a range of users conversing amongst each other in different clusters. It was found that a range of accounts were influential and/or mentioned within the network. These ranged from ordinary citizens, politicians, and popular culture figures. The most common theme and popular hashtags to emerge from the data encouraged the public to wear masks. Conclusion: Towards the end of June 2020, Twitter was utilized by the public to encourage others to wear masks and discussions around masks included a wide range of users.

Suggested Citation

  • Wasim Ahmed & Josep Vidal-Alaball & Francesc Lopez Segui & Pedro A. Moreno-Sánchez, 2020. "A Social Network Analysis of Tweets Related to Masks during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-9, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:8235-:d:441505
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Patrick Cheong-Iao Pang & Wenjing Jiang & Guanwen Pu & Kin-Sun Chan & Ying Lau, 2022. "Social Media Engagement in Two Governmental Schemes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Macao," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-12, July.
    2. Patrick Cheong-Iao Pang & Qixin Cai & Wenjing Jiang & Kin Sun Chan, 2021. "Engagement of Government Social Media on Facebook during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Macao," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Francesco Tessarolo & Giandomenico Nollo & Devid Maniglio & Marta Rigoni & Luca Benedetti & Fabrizia Helfer & Ivan Corradi & Luigi Rovati & Alberto Ferrari & Mattia Piccini & Luca Accorsi & Elena Vero, 2021. "Testing Surgical Face Masks in an Emergency Context: The Experience of Italian Laboratories during the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-19, February.
    4. Yunhwan Kim, 2022. "#Nomask on Instagram: Exploring Visual Representations of the Antisocial Norm on Social Media," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-14, June.
    5. Andrea Laurent-Simpson, 2023. "COVID-19 and Masking Disparities: Qualitative Analysis of Trust on the CDC’s Facebook Page," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-18, June.
    6. Stefano Bruzzese & Wasim Ahmed & Simone Blanc & Filippo Brun, 2022. "Ecosystem Services: A Social and Semantic Network Analysis of Public Opinion on Twitter," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-15, November.
    7. Basma T. Gomaa & Eric R. Walsh-Buhi & Russell J. Funk, 2022. "Understanding Melanoma Talk on Twitter: The Lessons Learned and Missed Opportunities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-9, September.

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