Dashboard of Sentiment in Austrian Social Media During COVID-19

Abstract

To track online emotional expressions on social media platforms close to real-time during the COVID-19 pandemic, we built a self-updating monitor of emotion dynamics using digital traces from three different data sources in Austria. This allows decision makers and the interested public to assess dynamics of sentiment online during the pandemic. We used web scraping and API access to retrieve data from the news platform derstandard.at, Twitter, and a chat platform for students. We documented the technical details of our workflow to provide materials for other researchers interested in building a similar tool for different contexts. Automated text analysis allowed us to highlight changes of language use during COVID-19 in comparison to a neutral baseline. We used special word clouds to visualize that overall difference. Longitudinally, our time series showed spikes in anxiety that can be linked to several events and media reporting. Additionally, we found a marked decrease in anger. The changes lasted for remarkably long periods of time (up to 12 weeks). We have also discussed these and more patterns and connect them to the emergence of collective emotions. The interactive dashboard showcasing our data

Complexity, transparency and time pressure: practical insights into science communication in times of crisis

“…In the early weeks of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, we published several reports about the evolution of emotional and social expressions on Twitter in 2020 in different countries, including Austria (see Figure 5) ]. [Pellert et al, 2020]. This is also supported by reports of drastically decreased criminality in Austria during the lockdown [Weichhart, 2020].…”

“…Next, we built an online emotion monitor that was automatically updated daily [Pellert et al, 2020] based on text data from Twitter, the online discussion forum of a major Austrian newspaper, and a chat platform for young adults. In the initial reports on the CSH website, we focused on increases in expressions of anxiety (the most relevant collective emotion in response to a threat) and prosocial attitudes (a positive aspect of the public response).…”

“…One way to tackle the increased time pressure of the short cycles between receiving, evaluating, and presenting insights gained from new information is to break down scientific questions and results into smaller units, or to establish continuous reporting outlets in the form of monitors. This strategy is especially feasible when monitoring and communicating daily changes, such as case numbers , movement patterns [CSH, 2020a] and population sentiment [Pellert et al, 2020] to inform decision-makers and the public in real time. In these cases, communication and dissemination are facilitated and become more effective, i.e.…”

Complexity, transparency and time pressure: practical insights into science communication in times of crisis

“…A value of zero corresponds to the average level per weekday in 2019 (baseline). We believe that the marked decline in anger during the time of lockdown in Austria is caused by the reduction of words referring to violent incidents, such as robberies or demonstrations and the shift of public discourse towards corona related topics [Pellert et al, 2020]. This is also supported by reports of drastically decreased criminality in Austria during the lockdown [Weichhart, 2020].…”

“…In the early weeks of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, we published several reports about the evolution of emotional and social expressions on Twitter in 2020 in different countries, including Austria (see Figure 5) [Metzler, Rimé and Garcia, 2020]. Next, we built an online emotion monitor that was automatically updated daily [Pellert et al, 2020] based on text data from Twitter, the online discussion forum of a major Austrian newspaper, and a chat platform for young adults. In the initial reports on the CSH website, we focused on increases in expressions of anxiety (the most relevant collective emotion in response to a threat) and prosocial attitudes (a positive aspect of the public response).…”