Mpox 1b: Defensores de la Ciencia en las Redes Sociales Occidentales y Chinas

Identifier:  imarina:9390030

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9390030

Authors:  Alvarez-Guerrero, Garazi; Guo, Mengna; Bordanoba-Gallego, Lidia; Torras-Gomez, Elisabeth; de Aguileta, Garazi Lopez; Joanpere, Mar; Pulido, Cristina; de Aguileta, Ane Lopez; Racionero-Plaza, Sandra; Puigvert, Lidia; Soler-Gallart, Marta; Flecha, Ramon

Abstract:
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific literature published research about the presence of hoaxes and evidence in diverse social media, with a huge scientific and social impact. The main results showed that while in Western social media like X there was more false information and less scientific evidence than in the Chinese platform Weibo, but scientific evidence was more retweeted than hoaxes. This research allowed the identification of social activists for science in the social media, who multiplied their impact when scientists provided them with evidence. Mpox clade 1b outbreak, which has now been declared a global public health emergency by WHO, requires a fast reaction from science, already taking place. This article analyzes information disseminated in X and Weibo about mpox. 3089 messages published between 12 and 16 of August 2024 have been analyzed. The results show that while hoaxes around mpox are prevalent in social media, posts containing scientific evidence do receive more interaction. Such findings contribute to the understanding of the health crisis and underscore the need for health authorities to join efforts with citizens to co-create evidence- based communication strategies.