Too Far to Care? Measuring Public Attention and Fear for Ebola Using Twitter.

Liza Gg Van Lent,Florian A Kunneman,Enny Das,Hande Sungur,Bob Van De Velde

doi:10.2196/jmir.7219

Liza Gg Van Lent, Florian A Kunneman + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7219

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Abstract

BackgroundIn 2014, the world was startled by a sudden outbreak of Ebola. Although Ebola infections and deaths occurred almost exclusively in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, few potential Western cases, in particular, caused a great stir among the public in Western countries.ObjectiveThis study builds on the construal level theory to examine the relationship between psychological distance to an epidemic and public attention and sentiment expressed on Twitter. Whereas previous research has shown the potential of social media to assess real-time public opinion and sentiment, generalizable insights that further the theory development lack.MethodsEpidemiological data (number of Ebola infections and fatalities) and media data (tweet volume and key events reported in the media) were collected for the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and Twitter content from the Netherlands was coded for (1) expressions of fear for self or fear for others and (2) psychological distance of the outbreak to the tweet source. Longitudinal relations were compared using vector error correction model (VECM) methodology.ResultsAnalyses based on 4500 tweets revealed that increases in public attention to Ebola co-occurred with severe world events related to the epidemic, but not all severe events evoked fear. As hypothesized, Web-based public attention and expressions of fear responded mainly to the psychological distance of the epidemic. A chi-square test showed a significant positive relation between proximity and fear: χ22=103.2 (P<.001). Public attention and fear for self in the Netherlands showed peaks when Ebola became spatially closer by crossing the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Fear for others was mostly predicted by the social distance to the affected parties.ConclusionsSpatial and social distance are important predictors of public attention to worldwide crisis such as epidemics. These factors need to be taken into account when communicating about human tragedies.

Highlights

General Background In early spring of 2014, the world was startled by an outbreak of Ebola: a fairly unfamiliar and incurable virus with a high risk of death
This study builds on the construal level theory to examine the relationship between psychological distance to an epidemic and public attention and sentiment expressed on Twitter
Analyses based on 4500 tweets revealed that increases in public attention to Ebola co-occurred with severe world events related to the epidemic, but not all severe events evoked fear

Summary

Introduction

General Background In early spring of 2014, the world was startled by an outbreak of Ebola: a fairly unfamiliar and incurable virus with a high risk of death. Starting in March in Guinea, the epidemic quickly spread to West African cities, causing over 10,000 infections and 5000 deaths in a course of 9 months [1]. How can one adequately isolate the factors responsible for sudden surges in public attention and fear following health crises like the Ebola outbreak? The present research uses Twitter to examine the role of real-time changes in spatial and social distance to the epidemic to understand shifts in public attention and fear during a crisis. The present research complements these findings by applying construal level theory (CLT) [11] to examine Web-based attention and fear in public crises. Ebola infections and deaths occurred almost exclusively in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, few potential Western cases, in particular, caused a great stir among the public in Western countries

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