University of Southern California
In the realm of social media, anti-science views about COVID-19 align so closely with political ideology — especially among conservatives — that its predictability offers a strategy to help protect public health, a new USC study shows.
Resistance to science, including the efficacy of masks and vaccines, poses a challenge to conquering the coronavirus crisis. The goal of achieving herd immunity won’t happen until society achieves consensus about science-based solutions.
The USC study’s machine-learning assisted analysis of social media communications offers policymakers and public health officials new tools to anticipate shifts in attitudes and proactively respond.
“We show that anti-science views are aligned with political ideology, specifically conservatism,” said Kristina Lerman, lead author of the study and a professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. “While that’s not necessarily brand new, we discovered this entirely from social media data that gives detailed clues about where COVID-19 is likely to spread so we can take preventive measures.”
Previous surveys and polls have shown a partisan gulf in views about COVID-19 as well as the costs and benefits of remedies. By contrast, the USC study examined public health attitudes based on Twitter tweets between Jan. 21 and May 1, 2020.
