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 conversations. By linking 2.3 million Twitter users to locations within the United States, we study in aggregate how political characteristics of the locations affect the evolution of online discussions about COVID‐19. We show that COVID‐19 chatter in the United States is largely shaped by political polarization. Partisanship correlates with sentiment toward government measures and the tendency to share health and prevention messaging. Cross‐ideological interactions are modulated by user segregation and polarized network structure. We also observe a correlation between user engagement with topics related to public health and the varying impact of the disease outbreak in different U.S. states. These findings may help inform policies both online and offline. Decision‐makers …

Date

January 1, 1970

Authors

Julie Jiang, Emily Chen, Shen Yan, Kristina Lerman, Emilio Ferrara

Journal

Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies

Volume

2

Issue

3

Pages

200-211

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.