IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i10p6159-d818797.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Communication through Positive and Solidarity Messages Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Automated Content Analysis of Facebook Uses

Author

Listed:
  • Angela Chang

    (Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China
    Institute of Communication and Health, Lugano University, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Xuechang Xian

    (Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China
    Department of Communication, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing 526060, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Matthew Tingchi Liu

    (Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau, Macao, China)

  • Xinshu Zhao

    (Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China)

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused significant stress in our lives, which potentially increases frustration, fear, and resentful emotions. Managing stress is complex, but helps to alleviate negative psychological effects. In order to understand how the public coped with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, we used Macao as a case study and collected 104,827 COVID-19 related posts from Facebook through data mining, from 1 January to 31 December 2020. Divominer, a big-data analysis tool supported by computational algorithm, was employed to identify themes and facilitate machine coding and analysis. A total of 60,875 positive messages were identified, with 24,790 covering positive psychological themes, such as “anti-epidemic”, “solidarity”, “hope”, “gratitude”, “optimism”, and “grit”. Messages that mentioned “anti-epidemic”, “solidarity”, and “hope” were the most prevalent, while different crisis stages, key themes and media elements had various impacts on public involvement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first-ever study in the Chinese context that uses social media to clarify the awareness of solidarity. Positive messages are needed to empower social media users to shoulder their shared responsibility to tackle the crisis. The findings provide insights into users’ needs for improving their subjective well-being to mitigate the negative psychological impact of the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Angela Chang & Xuechang Xian & Matthew Tingchi Liu & Xinshu Zhao, 2022. "Health Communication through Positive and Solidarity Messages Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Automated Content Analysis of Facebook Uses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:6159-:d:818797
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/6159/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/6159/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Po-Chin Yang & Wui-Chiang Lee & Hao-Yen Liu & Mei-Ju Shih & Tzeng-Ji Chen & Li-Fang Chou & Shinn-Jang Hwang, 2018. "Use of Facebook by Hospitals in Taiwan: A Nationwide Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-10, June.
    2. Patrick Hill & Anthony Burrow & Kendall Bronk, 2016. "Persevering with Positivity and Purpose: An Examination of Purpose Commitment and Positive Affect as Predictors of Grit," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 257-269, February.
    3. Angela Chang & Peter J. Schulz & Angus Wenghin Cheong, 2020. "Online Newspaper Framing of Non-Communicable Diseases: Comparison of Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Alexia Katsanidou & Ann-Kathrin Reinl & Christina Eder, 2022. "Together we stand? Transnational solidarity in the EU in times of crises," European Union Politics, , vol. 23(1), pages 66-78, March.
    5. Xuehua Han & Juanle Wang & Min Zhang & Xiaojie Wang, 2020. "Using Social Media to Mine and Analyze Public Opinion Related to COVID-19 in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-22, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Li, Xinwei & Xu, Mao & Zeng, Wenjuan & Tse, Ying Kei & Chan, Hing Kai, 2023. "Exploring customer concerns on service quality under the COVID-19 crisis: A social media analytics study from the retail industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zvjezdana Gvozdanović & Nikolina Farčić & Hrvoje Šimić & Vikica Buljanović & Lea Gvozdanović & Sven Katalinić & Stana Pačarić & Domagoj Gvozdanović & Željka Dujmić & Blaženka Miškić & Ivana Barać & Na, 2021. "The Impact of Education, COVID-19 and Risk Factors on the Quality of Life in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Ya-Chuan Hsu & Tzeng-Ji Chen & Feng-Yuan Chu & Hao-Yen Liu & Li-Fang Chou & Shinn-Jang Hwang, 2019. "Official Websites of Local Health Centers in Taiwan: A Nationwide Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-10, January.
    3. Chengyan Zhu & Xiaolin Xu & Wei Zhang & Jianmin Chen & Richard Evans, 2019. "How Health Communication via Tik Tok Makes a Difference: A Content Analysis of Tik Tok Accounts Run by Chinese Provincial Health Committees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Keita, Kady & Rabaud, Isabelle & Turcu, Camelia, 2023. "Fiscal outcomes, current account imbalances, and institutions in Europe: Exploring nonlinearities," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 121-134.
    5. Christian M. Hafner, 2020. "The Spread of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Time and Space," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-13, May.
    6. Siqi Lai & Brian Deal, 2022. "Parks, Green Space, and Happiness: A Spatially Specific Sentiment Analysis Using Microblogs in Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Claudia López-Madrigal & Jesús de la Fuente & Javier García-Manglano & José Manuel Martínez-Vicente & Francisco Javier Peralta-Sánchez & Jorge Amate-Romera, 2021. "The Role of Gender and Age in the Emotional Well-Being Outcomes of Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-20, January.
    8. Fernando Olivares-Delgado & Patricia P. Iglesias-Sánchez & María Teresa Benlloch-Osuna & Carlos de las Heras-Pedrosa & Carmen Jambrino-Maldonado, 2020. "Resilience and Anti-Stress during COVID-19 Isolation in Spain: An Analysis through Audiovisual Spots," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-23, November.
    9. Ling Lin & Tao Shu & Han Yang & Jun Wang & Jixian Zhou & Yuxuan Wang, 2023. "Consumer-Perceived Risks and Sustainable Development of China’s Online Gaming Market: Analysis Based on Social Media Comments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-20, August.
    10. Patou Masika Musumari & Arunrat Tangmunkongvorakul & Kriengkrai Srithanaviboonchai & Teeranee Techasrivichien & S Pilar Suguimoto & Masako Ono-Kihara & Masahiro Kihara, 2018. "Grit is associated with lower level of depression and anxiety among university students in Chiang Mai, Thailand: A cross-sectional study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Nicoli, Francesco & van der Duin, David & Burgoon, Brian, 2023. "Which Energy Security Union? An experiment on public preferences for energy union alternatives in 5 western European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    12. Chengxi Zhai & Xiaoyun Chai & Silu Shrestha & Nian Zhong, 2023. "Grit and Career Construction among Chinese High School Students: The Serial Mediating Effect of Hope and Career Adaptability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-11, February.
    13. Wouter van der Brug & Katjana Gattermann & Claes H. de Vreese, 2022. "Electoral responses to the increased contestation over European integration. The European Elections of 2019 and beyond," European Union Politics, , vol. 23(1), pages 3-20, March.
    14. 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.
    15. Mikyoung Lee, 2022. "Nursing Students’ Grit, Socio-Cognitive Mindfulness, and Achievement Emotions: Mediating Effects of Socio-Cognitive Mindfulness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-11, March.
    16. Afiq Izzudin A. Rahim & Mohd Ismail Ibrahim & Kamarul Imran Musa & Sook-Ling Chua & Najib Majdi Yaacob, 2021. "Assessing Patient-Perceived Hospital Service Quality and Sentiment in Malaysian Public Hospitals Using Machine Learning and Facebook Reviews," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-28, September.
    17. Ann-Kathrin Reinl & Daniela Braun, 2023. "Who holds the union together? Citizens’ preferences for European Union cohesion in challenging times," European Union Politics, , vol. 24(2), pages 390-409, June.
    18. Yuye Zhou & Jiangang Xu & Maosen Yin & Jun Zeng & Haolin Ming & Yiwen Wang, 2022. "Spatial-Temporal Pattern Evolution of Public Sentiment Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Small Cities of China: A Case Study Based on Social Media Data Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-18, September.
    19. Mueller, Brandon A. & Wolfe, Marcus T. & Syed, Imran, 2017. "Passion and grit: An exploration of the pathways leading to venture success," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 260-279.
    20. Beniamino Schiavone & Andrea Vitale & Mena Gallo & Gianlucasalvatore Russo & Domenico Ponticelli & Mario Borrelli, 2021. "Overview of Facebook Use by Hospitals in Italy: A Nationwide Survey during the COVID-19 Emergency," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-17, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:6159-:d:818797. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.