Perceptions and effects of COVID-19 related information in Denmark and Sweden – a web-based survey about COVID-19 and social media

Stjernswärd, Sigrid; Ivert, Anna Karin; Glasdam, Stinne

doi:10.1007/s10389-021-01539-5

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…More than three-quarters (762/1003, 76%) of respondents stated that they have relied on social media at least "a little," and 59.2% (594/1003) of respondents indicated that they read information about COVID-19 on social media at least once per week. The heavy reliance on social media observed among US-based SNS users is consistent with findings from recent research conducted in various international settings, including China [19] and Europe [20].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Health Information Seeking Behaviors on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among American Social Networking Site Users: Survey Study

Neely¹,

Eldredge²,

Sanders³

2021

J Med Internet Res

184

127

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background In recent years, medical journals have emphasized the increasingly critical role that social media plays in the dissemination of public health information and disease prevention guidelines. However, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter continue to pose unique challenges for clinical health care providers and public health officials alike. In order to effectively communicate during public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is increasingly critical for health care providers and public health officials to understand how patients gather health-related information on the internet and adjudicate the merits of such information. Objective With that goal in mind, we conducted a survey of 1003 US-based adults to better understand how health consumers have used social media to learn and stay informed about the COVID-19 pandemic, the extent to which they have relied on credible scientific information sources, and how they have gone about fact-checking pandemic-related information. Methods A web-based survey was conducted with a sample that was purchased through an industry-leading market research provider. The results were reported with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of 3. Participants included 1003 US-based adults (aged ≥18 years). Participants were selected via a stratified quota sampling approach to ensure that the sample was representative of the US population. Balanced quotas were determined (by region of the country) for gender, age, race, and ethnicity. Results The results showed a heavy reliance on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic; more than three-quarters of respondents (762/1003, 76%) reported that they have relied on social media at least “a little,” and 59.2% (594/1003) of respondents indicated that they read information about COVID-19 on social media at least once per week. According to the findings, most social media users (638/1003, 63.6%) were unlikely to fact-check what they see on the internet with a health professional, despite the high levels of mistrust in the accuracy of COVID-19–related information on social media. We also found a greater likelihood of undergoing vaccination among those following more credible scientific sources on social media during the pandemic (χ216=50.790; φ=0.258; P<.001). Conclusions The findings suggest that health professionals will need to be both strategic and proactive when engaging with health consumers on social media if they hope to counteract the deleterious effects of misinformation and disinformation. Effective training, institutional support, and proactive collaboration can help health professionals adapt to the evolving patterns of health information seeking.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Health Information Seeking Behaviors on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among American Social Networking Site Users: Survey Study

Neely¹,

Eldredge²,

Sanders³

2021

J Med Internet Res

184

127

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). The quantitative data has been reported in other articles (Stjernswärd et al, 2021a(Stjernswärd et al, , 2021b; Most survey questions, which focused on uses of social media (e.g. types, sources, reliability) to locate COVID-19 information and its effects on users, included a space for free text answers, where informants could freely complete/comment upon the multiple choice/Likert-type scale answers and add further reflections related to COVID-19, related information, and social media ('You are welcome to comment upon/develop your answer here').…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…The Challenger threatened and challenged the dominant medico-political strategy related to COVID-19, with resistance always being a possible consequence of any exercise of power (Foucault, 1995). Thus, depending on the national context, the different ideal types can support or oppose the national strategy and by extension challenge international recommendations (Stjernswärd et al, 2021a;Béland et al, 2020;Devlin and Connaughton, 2020). The Entertainer, however, both consolidated and challenged the medico-political strategy using humour, art, and literature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individuals' strategies related to new life situations, such as the pandemic, are based on habitus, capital, and social position in society (Bourdieu, 1995). Individuals' strategies are also related to the strategy of their country of residence (Seing et al, 2021;Stjernswärd et al, 2021a). The current pandemic has earned the title of 'infodemic' due to the massive amount of information circulating through varied channels (Gallotti et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ideal types’ strategies related to handling early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: A thematic analysis of comments from an international survey

Glasdam

Stjernswärd

2022

Current Sociology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

People (re)act differently when facing the pandemic. Multiple opinions about COVID-19 and related issues prevail, both in personal meetings and in (social) media. This article aims to illuminate different ideal types and handling strategies in early stages of the pandemic. A thematic Braun and Clark, and Weber inspired analysis of qualitative data from an international web-based survey was carried out in two steps. First, five ideal types related to handling the COVID-19 pandemic were constructed: the Stickler for the rules, the Challenger, the Fact hunter, the Idealist, and the Entertainer. Second, the ideal types were represented throughout four themes: Divided opinions on politico-medico restrictions, Multifaceted picture of the pandemic, Social media as a lookout point and source of insight, and The future between hope and fear. The results illustrated the complexity of people’s understanding of, (re)actions to and handling of the pandemic.

show abstract

“…With regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Danish and Swedish governments and public authorities did not use tailored communications based on socio-demographic characteristics [33,24]. Authorities in the two countries received critique for the lack of adaptation of communication to many immigrant groups beyond translation of messages into multiple languages [34,35]. Reaching some immigrant groups in both countries proved challenging when the COVID-19 vaccination programmes rolled out, resulting in low vaccination rates among some sub-groups of the immigrant populations in the two countries [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political trust in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey in Denmark and Sweden

Nilsen

Karlsson

Seing

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The initial responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark and Sweden differed markedly. Balancing disparate concerns was crucial to generate trust in the COVID-19 restrictions. Political trust is public support for core political institutions. The aim was to investigate the extent to which there was trust in the handling of the pandemic by the Danish and Swedish governments and trust in the handling of the pandemic by the leading public health authorities in each country. A further aim was also to investigate the characteristics of those in Denmark and Sweden who expressed the lowest degree of trust. Methods Cross-sectional surveys were conducted in 2021, using web panels that are nationally representative of the socio-demographic characteristics. The population consisted of 2619 individuals from Denmark and 2633 from Sweden, representative of the age, sex and region of residence of the populations aged ≥ 18 years. Trust was captured in two questions: trust in how the government and the public health authority in each country had handled the pandemic. Responses on the two trust items were on a five-point Likert scale. Those who expressed “very small trust” or “moderately small trust” were labelled “low trusters”. Results Approximately 61% of the Danish respondents expressed moderately large or very large trust in the government’s handling of the pandemic. The corresponding proportion for Sweden was 42%. The proportion of low trusters was 11% in Denmark and 34% in Sweden. Moderately large or very large trust in the public health authority’s handling was expressed by 83% of the Danish respondents and 74% of the Swedes. The proportion of low trusters was 5% in Denmark and 17% in Sweden. In both countries, trust was lower among men than among women and among those aged < 65 years compared with those > 65 years. Conclusions Danes expressed significantly higher trust in their government’s handling of the pandemic than Swedes. In both countries, trust in the public health authority’s handling of the pandemic was higher than that for the government’s handling. Several socio-demographic characteristics were associated with lower trust in handling the pandemic by the government and public health authority.

show abstract

Perceptions and effects of COVID-19 related information in Denmark and Sweden – a web-based survey about COVID-19 and social media

Cited by 18 publications

References 31 publications

Health Information Seeking Behaviors on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among American Social Networking Site Users: Survey Study

Health Information Seeking Behaviors on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among American Social Networking Site Users: Survey Study

Ideal types’ strategies related to handling early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: A thematic analysis of comments from an international survey

Political trust in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey in Denmark and Sweden

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About