Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Oct 13, 2021
Date Accepted: Nov 27, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Dec 9, 2021
Tracking private WhatsApp discourse about COVID-19: A longitudinal infodemiology study in Singapore
ABSTRACT
Background:
Worldwide, social media traffic increased following the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Although the spread of COVID-19 content has been described for several social media platforms (e.g., Twitter, Facebook), little is known about how content is spread via private messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.
Objective:
In this study, we documented: (i) how WhatsApp is used to transmit COVID-19 content; (ii) the characteristics of WhatsApp users based on their usage patterns; and(iii) how usage patterns link to well-being.
Methods:
We used the experience sampling method to track day-to-day WhatsApp usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. For one week, participants reported each day the extent to which they had received, forwarded, or discussed COVID-19 content. The final dataset comprised of 924 data points collected from 151 participants.
Results:
During the week-long monitoring, most participants (143/151, 95%) reported at least one COVID-19-related use of WhatsApp. When a taxonomy was generated based on usage patterns, 1 in 10 participants (21/151, 14%) were found to have received and shared a high volume of forwarded COVID-19 content – akin to ‘super spreaders’ identified on other social media platforms. Finally, those who engaged with more COVID-19 content in their personal chats were more likely to report having COVID-19 thoughts throughout the day.
Conclusions:
These findings provide a rare window into discourse on private messenger platforms. In turn, this can inform risk communication strategies during the pandemic. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04367363
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