Abstract
BackgroundThe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic led to substantial public discussion. Understanding these discussions can help institutions, governments, and individuals navigate the pandemic.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to analyze discussions on Twitter related to COVID-19 and to investigate the sentiments toward COVID-19.MethodsThis study applied machine learning methods in the field of artificial intelligence to analyze data collected from Twitter. Using tweets originating exclusively in the United States and written in English during the 1-month period from March 20 to April 19, 2020, the study examined COVID-19–related discussions. Social network and sentiment analyses were also conducted to determine the social network of dominant topics and whether the tweets expressed positive, neutral, or negative sentiments. Geographic analysis of the tweets was also conducted.ResultsThere were a total of 14,180,603 likes, 863,411 replies, 3,087,812 retweets, and 641,381 mentions in tweets during the study timeframe. Out of 902,138 tweets analyzed, sentiment analysis classified 434,254 (48.2%) tweets as having a positive sentiment, 187,042 (20.7%) as neutral, and 280,842 (31.1%) as negative. The study identified 5 dominant themes among COVID-19–related tweets: health care environment, emotional support, business economy, social change, and psychological stress. Alaska, Wyoming, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Florida were the states expressing the most negative sentiment while Vermont, North Dakota, Utah, Colorado, Tennessee, and North Carolina conveyed the most positive sentiment.ConclusionsThis study identified 5 prevalent themes of COVID-19 discussion with sentiments ranging from positive to negative. These themes and sentiments can clarify the public’s response to COVID-19 and help officials navigate the pandemic.
Highlights
The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) upended people’s lives worldwide
COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel human pathogen that virologists believe emerged from bats and eventually jumped to humans via an intermediary host [1]
This study found that overall, positive sentiment outweighed negative sentiment
Summary
The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) upended people’s lives worldwide. COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel human pathogen that virologists believe emerged from bats and eventually jumped to humans via an intermediary host [1]. By June 23, the WHO reported 8,993,659 confirmed COVID-19 cases globally, and 469,587 deaths [4], and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported more than 2 million confirmed cases in the United States and more than 120,000 deaths [5]. These numbers illustrate how swiftly an emerging infection can spread. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic led to substantial public discussion. Understanding these discussions can help institutions, governments, and individuals navigate the pandemic
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