COVID-19, Genetics, and Risk: Content Analysis of Facebook Posts Early in the Coronavirus Pandemic

Area of Science:

• Genetics and Public Health
• Social Media Analysis
• Health Communication

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique environment for health information seeking, amplified by social media.
• Unlike typical health issues, pandemic responses involved significant political dimensions.
• The early release of the novel coronavirus DNA spurred public interest in genetics related to COVID-19.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze how social media was used in the early pandemic to understand the role of genetics in COVID-19.
• To identify themes and account types discussing genetics and COVID-19 on Facebook.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative content analysis of Facebook posts from March to August 2020.
• Examination of how genetics issues were shared and by whom.

Main Results:

• Four main themes emerged: disease risk, testing, vaccines, and virus characteristics.
• Posts originated from eight account types, with education, health, lifestyle, news, and political accounts comprising 88% of the data.
• Media dependency theory was used to interpret the findings.

Conclusions:

• Social media platforms like Facebook were central to public sense-making regarding genetics and COVID-19.
• Understanding the sources and themes of genetic information shared online is crucial for public health communication.
• Further research is needed to explore the implications of these findings for future health crises.