Political polarization drives online conversations about COVID ‐19 in the United States

Abstract

Since the outbreak in China in late 2019, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread around the world and has come to dominate online conversa ons. By linking 2.3 million Twi er users to loca ons within the United States, we study in aggregate how poli cal characteris cs of the loca ons affect the evolu on of online discussions about COVID-19. We show that COVID-19 cha er in the US is largely shaped by poli cal polariza on. Par sanship correlates with sen ment toward government measures and the tendency to share health and preven on messaging. Crossideological interac ons are modulated by user segrega on and polarized network structure. We also observe a correlaon between user engagement with topics related to public health and the varying impact of the disease outbreak in different US states. These findings may help inform policies both online and offline. Decision-makers may calibrate their use of online pla orms to measure the effec veness of public health campaigns, and to monitor the recep on of na onal and state-level policies, by tracking in real-me discussions in a highly polarized social media ecosystem.

Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: a systematic review

“…Rather than following analytical reasoning, people believing in conspiracy theories seem to more follow their intuitions, as they are more likely to infer relationships between unrelated phenomena 13 and to endorse epistemically suspect beliefs 5,7,18,19,28,52,61 , while conspiracy belief is lower for those who engage in flexible and critical thinking and who question their own ideas 10,70 . In line with described cognitive preferences, knowledge associated with COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs has generally been gleaned from social media rather than more scientifically supported, institutional websites 5,6,15,22,103,106 .…”

“…Pseudoscientific health practice may be adopted instead of scientifically supported safeguarding behaviours 5,6,15,22,103,106 , which often promote anti-vaccination attitudes, which might further explain the relation between conspiracy beliefs and reduced vaccinations intentions 13,61,90 .…”

“Their Page is Still Up”: Social Media and Coping with Loss

“…At this writing, the pandemic has resulted in over 848,000 deaths worldwide and over 182,000 deaths in the U.S. (World Health Organization, 2020), and has shifted many bereavement activities traditionally held in person to online spaces. Furthermore, these negative influences may also be compounded by the polarization of COVID-19 beliefs in the U.S. (Jiang et al, 2020). For example, media reports highlight a family of a COVID-19 halting their planned SM funeral livestream because of backlash against the deceased's social media postings denying the seriousness of the epidemic (Nashrulla, 2020).…”

Race and ethnicity, gender, and age on perceived threats and fear of COVID-19: Evidence from two national data sources

“…We also include a series of covariates that have previously been shown to play a role in perceived disease susceptibility. These factors include political party affiliation ( Allcott et al, 2020 ; Jiang, Chen, Yan, Lerman, & Ferrara, 2020 ), nativity and citizenship ( Edelman, Christian, & Mosca, 2009 ; Garcés-Palacio & Scarinci, 2012 ), U.S. Census region ( Heinrich & Holmes, 2011 ), household income ( Henrich & Holmes, 2011 ), education level ( Rubin, Amlôt, Page, & Wesely, 2009 ; Seale et al, 2009 ), and marital status ( Commodari, La Rosa, & Coniglio, 2020 ). All of the covariates are comparable across both data sources, with one exception.…”