What Malaysians Tweeted about COVID-19? An Exploratory Study

Introduction Conventional methods through population-based surveys in measuring public perceptions and reactions during emergencies or pandemic times are costly, labor intensive and time consuming. To understand phenomenological experiences "now," it is crucial to complement measurement tools with real-time "infoveillance" approaches. We aimed to explore public perceptions and reactions towards the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia via content and thematic analyses using Twitter.  

Methodology Using time-series computational methods, we archived 18,467 tweets from 5932 Twitter users across Malaysia between May 10, 2020 till May 25, 2020 using R software (TwitteR package). Original tweets (excluding retweets) in English and Malay were retrieved using keywords "COVID-19," "coronavirus," "SARS-CoV-2," "2019nCoV," and/or "nCoV2019." An exploratory qualitative thematic and content analysis was performed on all eligible Tweets. Theme-wise favorite count and favorite ratios were yielded.  

Results Three major themes and nine sub-themes emerged from the thematic-content analyses. The major theme "personal experiences (favorite ratio=17.18)" identified direct and indirect people's experiences to being infected or observing close relatives to be infected with COVID-19, while the second major theme "risk perceptions (favorite ratio=14.97)" highlighted sub-domains of "seriousness" of infectivity and "downplayed risks" of COVID-19 infections. The third major theme "expressions and reactions (favorite ratio=12.82)" conveyed five sub-domain themes of people's emotions towards the pandemic; "relief," "frustrations," "hope," "appreciation," and "appeal." 

Conclusion This study highlights the need for real-time effective communication and accurate information to be disseminated to tackle psychological repercussions in unexpected times.

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