Fear on the networks: analyzing the 2014 Ebola outbreak

During the 2014 Ebola outbreak, information spread via multiple platforms, including social networks and Internet search engines. This report analyzes Twitter tweets, Facebook posts, and Google trends, as well as several other Internet resources, from March – November 2014. Understanding the types of discussions, social behaviors, feelings expressed, and information shared during the Ebola outbreak can help health organizations improve communication interventions and avert misinformation and panic during health emergencies. In all, 6 422 170 tweets, 83 Facebook posts, and Google search trends were integrated with 63 chronological Ebola-related events. Events that prompted a surge in tweets using #ebola were related to new cases of infection or the entry of the disease into a new goegraphic area. Most tweets were re-tweets of information provided by news agencies and official health organizations. Events related to new infections and deaths seemed to correlate with an increase of words that express fear. Google results concurred with Twitter and Facebook. Data from social media activity can be used to form hypotheses about how the public responds to and behaves during public health events, prompting health organizations to adopt new strategies for communications interventions. Furthermore, a spike in activity around a topic can be used as a surveillance technique to signal to health authorities that an outbreak may be underway. It is also recommended that news agencies, which engage with the public most often, consider content review by health experts as part of their health communications process.