Deaths due to COVID-19 and impacts of long COVID top concerns on social media

Deaths related to COVID-19 and the impacts of long COVID are two of the main themes revealed in the latest TIGER C19 social media analysis.

The complexity of COVID treatment options and responses, concerns over children in the current environment, and calls for improved ventilation and preventative mask-wearing also emerged as being on Australians' radars on July 7 when the data were collected.

The TIGER C19 project—which stands for the Timely Integration of user-GEnerated Responses to COVID-19—is a collaboration between Burnet Institute and the University of Melbourne that's been underway since the start of the pandemic.

The latest report analyzed themes emerging across Twitter and Reddit from the nearly 15,000 retweets and reposts collected around seven keywords relevant to current COVID-19-related issues—death, reinfection, long COVID, ventilation, boosters, children and treatment.

TIGER C19 Co-Lead Investigator, Professor Robert Power AM, said the results made clear that COVID is still a topic of great concern and interest to people.

"It may no longer be headline news, nor at the top of the political agenda, but it's still very much a part of everyday discourse," he said.

"When we delved into the threads of the posts, what was noticeable was the number of stories describing the impact of COVID on daily life.

"Prominent topics included bereavement, ongoing health, social and economic concerns related to long COVID, and fear and uncertainty for the future."

This round of data collection also saw the TIGER C19 project reach a major milestone, with the researchers having now collated and analyzed over half a million tweets and posts.

"TIGER C19 has chronicled the themes and topics that have been at the forefront of public and political debate from the outset of the pandemic," Professor Power said.

"By conferring with those on the frontline our aim was always to select keywords of immediate interest.

"This has enabled us to interrogate the social media platforms where the discussions were taking place, where experiences were being recorded, and where policies unfolded and were enacted.

"From face masks to vaccines, protests to travelers, TIGER C19 has provided data and analysis that has contributed to understanding and responding to the ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic."