Exploring vaccine hesitancy in digital public discourse: From tribal polarization to socio-economic disparities.

ABSTRACT: This study analyzed online public discourse on Twitter (later rebranded as X) during the COVID-19 pandemic to understand key factors associated with vaccine hesitancy by employing deep-learning techniques. Text classification analysis reveals a significant association between attitudes toward vaccination and the unique socio-economic characteristics of US states, such as education, race, income or voting behavior. However, our results indicate that attributing vaccine hesitancy solely to a single social factor is not appropriate. Furthermore, the topic modeling of online discourse identifies two distinct sets of justifications for vaccine hesitancy. The first set pertains to political concerns, including constitutional rights and conspiracy theories. The second pertains to medical concerns

SUBMITTER: Ayaz H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11537378 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature