Temporal study of the social conversation on Twitter (X): The case of the COVID-19 pandemic

South African Journal of Information Management

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Temporal study of the social conversation on Twitter (X): The case of the COVID-19 pandemic
 
Creator Alshehri, Alanawd
 
Subject — social media; Twitter; #covid19; COVID-19; topic modelling; social networking; social network analysis; pandemic
Description Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, social media platforms played an important role for various purposes and involved many participants. The global issue of the pandemic was communicated and shared on social media platforms, converging and manifesting as a global social conversation.Objectives: This study examined the conversation on #covid19 on the social platform X (formerly Twitter) to identify key discussions and participants.Method: The evolving pattern of discussions was traced over 7 months, from March 2020 to September 2020, to obtain a deeper understanding of the conversation on social platforms. The most frequently used hashtags, mentions, and keywords were also identified. Furthermore, topic modelling was conducted, and the main themes that emerged in the social conversation were determined.Results: Five clusters of players were identified, that is, governments, individuals, professionals, organisations, and non-profit organisations, who shared the same interest in being involved in #covid19, but with diverse stakes.Conclusion: The findings are important for understanding how social media platforms can be effectively utilised during a pandemic.Contribution: This study sheds light on leveraging the potential of social networks during crises such as pandemics, as well as the importance of managing global social involvement by various stakeholders.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2025-07-07
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajim.v27i1.2001
 
Source South African Journal of Information Management; Vol 27, No 1 (2025); 8 pages 1560-683X 2078-1865
 
Language eng
 
Relation
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https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/2001/3228 https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/2001/3229 https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/2001/3230 https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/2001/3231
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2025 Alanawd Alshehri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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