Abstract
This paper explores the public perception of economic measures implemented as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland in March–June 2020. A mixed-method approach was used to analyse big data coming from tweets and Facebook posts related to the mitigation measures to provide evidence for longitudinal trends, correlations, theme classification and perception. The online discussion oscillated around political and economic issues. The implementation of the anti-crisis measures triggered a barrage of criticism pointing out the shortcomings and ineffectiveness of the solutions. The revised relief legislation was accompanied by a wide-reaching informative campaign about the relief package, which decreased negative sentiment. The analysis also showed that with regard to online discussion about risk mitigation, social media users are more concerned about short-term economic and social effects rather than long-term effects of the pandemic. The findings have significant implications for the understanding of public sentiment related to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic attitudes and relief support implemented to fight the adverse effects of the pandemic.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis that is having a major impact on state and international security
Since there is little published data yet on the public perception of economic measures implemented to fight the adverse effects of the pandemic, this paper investigates communication on two social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, to explore public opinion of the relief package launched in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic
The study seeks to answer the following research questions: How do social media users evaluate COVID-19 economic measures? What factors affect the perception of economic measures? We focus on social media discussion about the relief package introduced by the authorities in Poland at the outset of the pandemic (March–June 2020)
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis that is having a major impact on state and international security. A near global lockdown was implemented and this has been partially lifted since May 2020, the pandemic is likely to have far-reaching consequences, the eventual scale of which is impossible to predict at the moment (November 2020). Stay-at-home orders are being issued globally and social distancing is being promoted to reduce the risk of contracting the disease. The consequences of the pandemic surpass the impact on public health and health care systems and will have a massive impact on state and international security. Multiple policy interventions all over the world were launched to tackle the crisis, including imposing national lockdowns and closure of retail businesses. Various countries adopted different strategies to deal with the outbreak of the crisis (March–April 2020)
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