Using Twitter to Understand COVID-19 Vaccine-Related Ageism during the Pandemic.
SARS-CoV-2
attitudes
discrimination
social media
stereotypes
Journal
The Gerontologist
ISSN: 1758-5341
Titre abrégé: Gerontologist
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 0375327
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
02 Jun 2023
02 Jun 2023
Historique:
received:
30
01
2023
medline:
2
6
2023
pubmed:
2
6
2023
entrez:
2
6
2023
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
During the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, older adults in high-income countries were often prioritized for inoculation in efforts to reduce COVID-19 related mortality. However, this prioritization may have contributed to intergenerational tensions and ageism, particularly with the limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines. This study examines Twitter discourse to understand vaccine-related ageism during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform future vaccination policies and practices to reduce ageism. We collected 1,369 relevant tweets on Twitter using the Twint application in Python from December 8, 2020 to December 31, 2021. Tweets were analyzed using thematic analysis, and steps were taken to ensure rigor. Our research identified four main themes including: i) blame and hostility: 'It's all their fault'; ii) incompetence and misinformation: 'clueless boomer'; iii) ageist political slander; and iv) combatting ageism: advocacy and accessibility. Our findings exposed issues of victim-blaming, hate speech, pejorative content, and ageist political slander that is deepening the divide of intergenerational conflict. Although a subset of tweets countered negative outcomes and demonstrated intergenerational solidarity, our findings suggest that ageism may have contributed to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among older adults. Consequently, urgent action is needed to counter vaccine misinformation, prohibit aggressive messaging, and promote intergenerational unity during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
OBJECTIVE
During the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, older adults in high-income countries were often prioritized for inoculation in efforts to reduce COVID-19 related mortality. However, this prioritization may have contributed to intergenerational tensions and ageism, particularly with the limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines. This study examines Twitter discourse to understand vaccine-related ageism during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform future vaccination policies and practices to reduce ageism.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
METHODS
We collected 1,369 relevant tweets on Twitter using the Twint application in Python from December 8, 2020 to December 31, 2021. Tweets were analyzed using thematic analysis, and steps were taken to ensure rigor.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Our research identified four main themes including: i) blame and hostility: 'It's all their fault'; ii) incompetence and misinformation: 'clueless boomer'; iii) ageist political slander; and iv) combatting ageism: advocacy and accessibility.
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings exposed issues of victim-blaming, hate speech, pejorative content, and ageist political slander that is deepening the divide of intergenerational conflict. Although a subset of tweets countered negative outcomes and demonstrated intergenerational solidarity, our findings suggest that ageism may have contributed to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among older adults. Consequently, urgent action is needed to counter vaccine misinformation, prohibit aggressive messaging, and promote intergenerational unity during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37267449
pii: 7189798
doi: 10.1093/geront/gnad061
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Informations de copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.