Is Twitter a News Source or a Social Platform: A Case Study of Covid-19 Vaccine Conversations

Vaccine hesitancy presents a huge hurdle in reaching a meaningful conclusion to the coronavirus pandemic through herd immunity. Therefore, to convince skeptics of the safety and effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine, many citizens harnessed the widespread reach of social media platforms. Some shared their personal anecdotes and experiences after taking the vaccine as a way of reassuring that the side effects were manageable. Many others sought to raise awareness of the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine by sharing scientific articles, news stories, opinion pieces, and informal blogs. This paper assesses how these two different types of messages were received by Twitter users, which one resonated better, and whether there were any differences in the conduct of the authors of these two types of messages. Our results suggest that at least in the context of the Covid-19 vaccine, Twitter users interacted more with personal rather than informational messages. This suggests that users were eager to learn and be comforted by the positive and safe experiences of their friends and family rather than find solace in scientific opinions. To leverage these findings, the paper proposes a classification framework that can be used to distinguish between personal and informational messages. These personal messages can then be promoted to improve their visibility to spread reassurance and trust, as a strategy towards building an acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine.