Open AccessThe politicization of medical preprints on Twitter during the early stages of COVID-19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Aleksandra Urman,
Stefania Ionescu,
David García,
Anikó Hannák
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of quantitative description: digital media
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2673-8813
DOI - 10.51685/jqd.2022.003
Subject(s) - covid-19 , pandemic , preprint , politics , social media , political science , media studies , public discourse , medical science , public relations , sociology , virology , medicine , world wide web , computer science , medical education , law , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , pathology , outbreak
We examine the patterns of medical preprint sharing on Twitter during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis demonstrates a stark increase in attention to medical preprints among the general public since the beginning of the pandemic. We also observe a political divide in medical preprint sharing patterns - a finding in line with previous observations regarding the politicisation of COVID-19-related discussions. In addition, we find that the increase in attention to preprints from the members of the general public coincided with the change in the social media-based discourse around preprints.