Google Trends and Information Seeking Trend of COVID-19 in Indonesia

Abstract

WHO has declared COVID-19 as a pandemic due to its rapid increase in cases outside China. COVID-19 has also affected a growing number of countries. However, the Indonesia government responded to the declaration in a not-serious manner, which has generated uncertainty circumstance among its public. This circumstance has driven people to consume information as much as they are possible to consume. This study aims to map out the trend of information-seeking concerning COVID-19 in Indonesia using Google Trends and to compare it to the information available on Indonesia's Ministry of Health official website from January until March. This study was descriptive quantitative, which used Google Trends as data collection tools. The research found that information seeking concerning COVID-19 has been increasing since the end of January. Government statements were found as the trigger of the information-seeking activity escalation and also served as the reason behind different information-seeking trends each month.

Acehnese People’s Information Seeking Behavior about COVID-19

“…Regarding questions on seeking information about COVID-19, the majority of respondents admitted that they often sought (through reading) information about the spread of this virus. This confirms the research conducted by Limlia and Pratamawaty regarding the acceleration search for messages about COVID-19 in Indonesia, especially after the government announces the health emergency (Limilia & Pratamawaty, Bona, 2020). This intense search for the information is understandable, considering the COVID-19 outbreak is a new issue but has a significant impact on aspects of people's lives, particularly social and economic.…”

“…Several studies examined the relationship between the announcement of the COVID-19 cases and the increased search for information about this pandemic. This condition occurs in several countries, such as the United States (Bento, I et al, 2020), Spain (Moreno, Lara, Fuentes, & Navarro, 2020), Singapore and South Korea (Kim et al, 2020), including Indonesia (Limilia & Pratamawaty, Bona, 2020). The results of all these studies indicate relatively positive information-seeking behavior about COVID-19 and efforts to acquire information about this pandemic.…”

“…Recent studies showed an increase in people's behavior in seeking information about COVID-19 in Indonesia, especially since the end of January 2020. This quantitative studyin which the data collected through the Google Trends application found that the Indonesian Government's statement regarding COVID-19 was the factor driving the increase and the shift of people's information seeking activities about the Coronavirus outbreak (Limilia & Pratamawaty, Bona, 2020) The rise of information seeking activities is argued to affect changes in people's perceptions and behaviors in response to COVID-19 pandemic. However, with the significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, including in Aceh Province, it seems to be intriguing to identify how the Acehnese people searched for information about COVID-19 and their responses to the messages.…”

Identifying Personal Characteristics of Social Media Entrepreneurs in Indonesia

“…In another development, during the first quarter of 2020, countries around the globe have faced one of the worst pandemics (Limilia & Pratamawaty, 2020). There are various industries that are most affected by COVID-19, such as the service industry (hospitality/tourism) and the food and beverage sector, which sell their services onsite (Bayu, 2020;ILO, 2020).…”

“…Here, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the trend of doing business through social media. With lockdowns initiated at various locations, there is an increase in the adoption of digital channels and the use of the internet around the globe (Eoin Daly et al, 2020;Limilia & Pratamawaty, 2020). A recent study by Google & Temasek (2020) also reported that the coronavirus had caused massive adoption of digital services among customers in Indonesia, estimated with over 37% new digital services consumers, where 90% of them will continue their digital habits post-pandemic.…”