Concerns Discussed on Chinese and French Social Media During the COVID-19 Lockdown: Comparative Infodemiology Study Based on Topic Modeling

Abstract

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous countries, including China and France, have implemented lockdown measures that have been effective in controlling the epidemic. However, little is known about the impact of these measures on the population as expressed on social media from different cultural contexts. Objective This study aims to assess and compare the evolution of the topics discussed on Chinese and French social media during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods We extracted posts containing COVID-19–related or lockdown-related keywords in the most commonly used microblogging social media platforms (ie, Weibo in China and Twitter in France) from 1 week before lockdown to the lifting of the lockdown. A topic model was applied independently for three periods (prelockdown, early lockdown, and mid to late lockdown) to assess the evolution of the topics discussed on Chinese and French social media. Results A total of 6395; 23,422; and 141,643 Chinese Weibo messages, and 34,327; 119,919; and 282,965 French tweets were extracted in the prelockdown, early lockdown, and mid to late lockdown periods, respectively, in China and France. Four categories of topics were discussed in a continuously evolving way in all three periods: epidemic news and everyday life, scientific information, public measures, and solidarity and encouragement. The most represented category over all periods in both countries was epidemic news and everyday life. Scientific information was far more discussed on Weibo than in French tweets. Misinformation circulated through social media in both countries; however, it was more concerned with the virus and epidemic in China, whereas it was more concerned with the lockdown measures in France. Regarding public measures, more criticisms were identified in French tweets than on Weibo. Advantages and data privacy concerns regarding tracing apps were also addressed in French tweets. All these differences were explained by the different uses of social media, the different timelines of the epidemic, and the different cultural contexts in these two countries. Conclusions This study is the first to compare the social media content in eastern and western countries during the unprecedented COVID-19 lockdown. Using general COVID-19–related social media data, our results describe common and different public reactions, behaviors, and concerns in China and France, even covering the topics identified in prior studies focusing on specific interests. We believe our study can help characterize country-specific public needs and appropriately address them during an outbreak.

Multiplicity and dynamics of social representations of the COVID-19 pandemic on Chinese social media from 2019 to 2020

“…In contrast, the science of COVID-19 and its related topics ( Caulfield et al, 2021 ; O'Connor et al, 2021 ; Scheufele et al, 2021 ; Schück et al, 2021 ), such as pseudo-science and misinformation or fact-checking and correction were not central to COVID-19 representations. During the analysis period, the topic of science on COVID-19 constituted around 10% of the total data (stage 1: 11.32%, stage 2: 6.34%, stage 3: 6.78%).…”

“…Primarily, multiple representations of the object will emerge, and their relative prominence will shift during the progression of the crises. Several recent studies have applied the topic modeling of social media data and revealed that the topics focused on specific keyword combinations (e.g., ‘home, stay, lockdown’ or ‘vaccine, cure, disease’), which were largely interpreted against the corresponding events and evolving pandemic policies ( Schück et al, 2021 ). However, keyword combinations only suggest possible topics that represent public attention or opinion; more nuanced interpretations of the topics were lacking and relationships between topics (informed by the dynamic processes of dispersion and focalization across multiple social groups) have not been considered in the literature so far.…”

Cognitive Factors Associated With Public Acceptance of COVID-19 Nonpharmaceutical Prevention Measures: Cross-sectional Study

“…First, the cross-sectional design does not allow causal inferences about relationships between variables to be determined. Furthermore, missing data precluded the investigation of EPPM appraisal in the total study sample, and some novel measures such as “location tracking” [ 19 ] or “COVID-19 passport” were omitted. Second, personality variables such as anxiety trait and pessimism may have a pivotal influence on appraisals and were not assessed.…”

“…As a result, protests against restrictions emerged and rule violations increased, provoking peaks in new positive cases [ 17 ], forcing authorities to impose fines to slow down the spread of COVID-19 [ 18 ]. Due to these challenges, subsequent implementations of nonpharmaceutical measures in response to COVID-19 recurrences or other pandemics could present difficulties for decision makers [ 19 ]. A study examining acceptance of different scenarios showed that lockdown length affected respondents’ reactions much more strongly than intensity or flexibility [ 20 ].…”

Comparison of the Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Sildenafil and Tadalafil Using Patient Medication Reviews: Topic Modeling Study

“…Recently, topic modeling on data collected via social network services (SNSs), such as Twitter, and web portals is widely used for the survey of public perceptions and attitudes toward the COVID-19 outbreak [ 6 , 7 ], containment strategies [ 8 , 9 ], treatment interventions [ 6 ], and vaccines [ 10 , 11 ]. Topic modeling on SNS data is useful for examining issues that change quickly over time [ 12 ].…”