Personal stories matter: topic evolution and popularity among pro- and anti-vaccine online articles

Xu, Zhan

doi:10.1007/s42001-019-00044-w

Cited by 34 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Frequently discussed anti-vaccine topics included child deaths, flu shot, doctors’ testimonials, and so on. Some topics are more likely to engage viewers than others (Xu, 2019). For instance, the topic of personal story receives much more reactions, shares, and comments than other pro-vaccine topics.…”

Section: Readability Engagement and Cognitive Heuristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, not only do health researchers and practitioners focus on increasing the engagement level of health information anti-vaccine information creators also aim to make their messages more engaging. Anti-vaccine articles are found to be more engaging on social media than pro-vaccine articles (Xu, 2019; Xu & Guo, 2018). Previous studies mainly focus on the impact of emotional narratives on the engagingness of anti-vaccine articles (Betsch, Ulshofer, Renkewitz, & Betsch, 2011; Kata, 2010, 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Easier the Better? Comparing the Readability and Engagement of Online Pro- and Anti-Vaccination Articles

Ellis

Umphrey

2019

Health Educ Behav

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Online anti-vaccine articles contribute to the anti-vaccine movement, which leads to recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Previous studies indicate that anti-vaccine articles are easy to read and understand, which may increase their abilities to engage viewers. The present study aims to examine if readability levels are related to engagement. Using combination of terms to search for vaccine articles in Google in May 2017, this study examined 541 pro-vaccine online articles with a total of 508,571 words and 382 anti-vaccine articles with a total of 843,805 words. Almost all vaccine articles exceeded the American average reading comprehension level. No significant difference in readability was found between pro- and anti-vaccine articles. Pro-vaccine articles that could only be understood by college graduates were less engaging than those with lower readability levels. No significant relationship between anti-vaccine articles’ readability and engagement was discovered. Different vaccine topics had different readability and engagement levels, which implied that certain combinations of themes and readability levels could enhance the health messages’ persuasion effect. Recommendations for designing effective health messages are provided.

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Section: Readability Engagement and Cognitive Heuristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Easier the Better? Comparing the Readability and Engagement of Online Pro- and Anti-Vaccination Articles

Ellis

Umphrey

2019

Health Educ Behav

Self Cite

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“…Episodic frames often present individuals' experiences, narratives, and stories related to an issue. Those frames often depend on sensationalism to arouse emotional responses among audiences and tend to attract more attention (Xu, 2019); and are regarded as low-quality coverage, which in the end reduced audiences' risk judgments (Dudo et al, 2007). In contrast, thematic frames provide background information as well as discuss things that people can do to solve problems and how various societal and structural factors contribute to the issue (De Vreese et al, 2001;Iyengar, 1991).…”

Section: Agenda Setting Framing and Behavior Changementioning

confidence: 99%

News Frames and News Exposure Predicting Flu Vaccination Uptake: Evidence from U.S. Newspapers, 2011–2018 Using Computational Methods

Ellis

Laffidy

2020

Health Communication

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Flu remains a prevalent public health issue and the flu vaccine uptake remains low. This study examined the behavioral consequences of first-and second-level agenda setting by testing the effects of exposure to flu-related news coverage and different frames on flu vaccine uptake, while controlling for confounding sociodemographic factors, utilizing computational methods. Findings suggested that the media effects on children and adult influenza vaccine uptake differed. The frame of influenza caused deaths/illnesses stories was the only media frame that positively predicted flu vaccine uptake among children. Four frames, including influenza caused deaths/illnesses stories, flu prevention tips, things to know about flu vaccine, and public accountability positively predicted flu vaccine uptake among adults. Exposure rate negatively predicted flu vaccine uptake among adults. A few sociodemographic factors impacted flu vaccine uptake. Results also revealed the most and least exposed frames and state exposure rates to flurelated news stories.

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“…More seriously, the main argumentative strategies of anti-vaccine activists on the Internet have been the object of a number of studies 13,31,32 . Without any pretension of an exhaustive review, the main kinds of arguments can be grouped into a few clusters: (i) Dangerous ingredients: much heat was generated by the presence of ethylmercury as a preservative in vaccines, leading to its exclusion from most vaccines used in the United States 33 .…”

Section: "Well I Read It On the Internet"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Here we go again: the reemergence of anti-vaccine activism on the Internet

Camargo

2020

Cad. Saúde Pública

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This essay discusses the resurgence of anti-vaccine activism in recent years, based on relevant literature and the author’s own experiences. After presenting possible reasons for the reemergence of such movements and their consequences, the author analyses the role of Internet-mediated communication in amplifying this discourse and making it less amenable to criticism, presenting some of the main arguments deployed by the anti-vaccine agents in their discussions. The text concludes with a draft of possible responses to this increasingly worrying phenomenon.

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Personal stories matter: topic evolution and popularity among pro- and anti-vaccine online articles

Cited by 34 publications

References 34 publications

The Easier the Better? Comparing the Readability and Engagement of Online Pro- and Anti-Vaccination Articles

The Easier the Better? Comparing the Readability and Engagement of Online Pro- and Anti-Vaccination Articles

News Frames and News Exposure Predicting Flu Vaccination Uptake: Evidence from U.S. Newspapers, 2011–2018 Using Computational Methods

Here we go again: the reemergence of anti-vaccine activism on the Internet

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