Vaccination as a Control Tool in Bovine Tuberculosis: Social Media Monitoring to Assess Public Response to Government Policy Development and Implementation
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Data Capture Points
2.2. Media Monitoring and Data Aggregation
2.3. Data Visualisation
3. Results
3.1. Data Search and Categorisation
3.2. Online Activity
3.3. Author and Content Influence
3.4. Sentiment and Trend Analysis
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Category 1 | Abbreviation | Definition |
---|---|---|
Neutral | NE | Post with content or sentiment towards vaccination or culling that is neither favorable nor unfavorable, expressing balanced, unbiased opinions or factual statements |
Badger Cull Favorable | BCF | Posts displaying a positive sentiment or favorable views towards badger culling, for example encouraging the continued use of badger culling and reporting scientific support regarding the badger cull |
Badger Cull Unfavorable | BCU | Posts displaying a negative sentiment or unfavorable views towards badger culling. Content could include requests to stop badger culling, support for the ‘Save Me’ movement to protect badgers from culling, positive sentiments towards badgers, discouraging badger culling (e.g., inhumane, lack of evidence of improving cattle TB rates, link to increased spread) |
Badger Vaccine Favorable | BVF | Posts displaying a positive sentiment or favorable view towards badger vaccination, for example communicating the benefits of badger vaccination in optimistic or positive tones. Content could refute negative comments about the vaccine, encourage badger vaccination, or express positive views towards the current use of badger vaccines. Content could also include scientific reporting on the benefits of vaccination, including the humaneness of the approach |
Badger Vaccine Unfavorable | BVU | Posts displaying a negative sentiment or unfavorable view towards badger vaccination, for example refuting positive comments about the vaccine, arguments against vaccination of badgers, concerns about the safety to badgers, cost of the vaccine or efficacy of vaccination |
Cattle Vaccine Favorable | CVF | Posts displaying a positive sentiment or favorable view towards cattle vaccination, for example supporting the government announcement of vaccine trials, including its cost and benefits, ease of administration |
Cattle Vaccine Unfavorable | CVU | Posts displaying a negative sentiment or unfavorable view towards cattle vaccination, for example concerns over cost, animal trade implications, length of time until vaccine is available, efficacy of cattle vaccine, or lack of scientific backing. It could also include concerns over interference with the Single Comparative Cervical Intradermal Test (SCCIT) |
Ambiguous | AM | Posts containing both favorable and unfavorable sentiments towards badger culling/vaccination and/or cattle vaccination. Unable to decipher true intent of the individual |
Unknown Relevance | UR | Posts that were inaccessible for evaluation or were in a foreign language |
Irrelevant | IR | Posts that were not relevant to the topic. For example, Coronavirus-related |
Category | Pre-Announcement-1 | Post-Announcement-1 | Announcement-2 |
---|---|---|---|
Badger Cull: | |||
Favorable | 1 | 20 | 13 |
Unfavorable | 10 | 1746 | 142 |
Total | 11 | 1766 | 155 |
Badger Vaccine: | |||
Favorable | 57 | 1,482 | 2 |
Unfavorable | 3 | 30 | 6 |
Total | 60 | 1512 | |
Cattle Vaccine: | |||
Favorable | 5 | 674 | 300 |
Unfavorable | 0 | 20 | 4 |
Total | 5 | 694 | 304 |
Neutral: | 1 | 337 | 15 |
Category | Pre-Announcement-1 | Post-Announcement-1 | Announcement-2 |
---|---|---|---|
Meltwater Analysis 1 | |||
Top Key Words | bovine tb, training, summer | bovine tb, cull, vaccines, decision, disease, controversial | disease, bovine tb, tb vaccine trails, cattle vaccine, diva test |
Top Hashtags | #badgermonday #wildlife #stopthecull | #badgercull #wildlife #stopthecullnow #sensless | #badgercull #science #btb #stopthecull #cattlevets |
Top Twitter Authors | Individuals from the public e.g. CEO of The Badger Trust | Sky News (Sky UK Ltd., Isleworth, Middlesex, UK), The Daily Mail UK (Daily Mail and General Trust, London, UK), RSPCA official (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Southwater, West Sussex, UK), BBC Bristol, Gloucester, Midlands, Cumbria, and BBC Country File (British Broadcasting Corporation, London, UK), Farmers Weekly (Farmer Weekly, Sutton, Surrey, UK), Farmers Guardian (Farmers Guardian Ltd., Preston, Lancashire, UK) | The Guardian (Guardian Media Group, London, UK), RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Southwater, West Sussex, UK), Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London, UK), ITV West Country (ITV plc., London, UK), Farmers Guardian (Farmers Guardian Ltd., Preston, Lancashire, UK), Vet Times UK (Veterinary Business Development Ltd, Peterborough, UK), APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency, Addlestone, Surrey, UK) |
InfraNodus Analysis 2 | |||
Most Influential Elements | badger, @wildlifetrusts (The Wildlife Trusts, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, UK), wildlife | badger, cull, vaccine, @wildlifetrusts, cattle | trial, bovine, cattle, vaccine, @defragovuk ((Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London, UK), @rspca_official (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Southwater, West Sussex, UK), @aphagovuk (Animal and Plant Health Agency, Addlestone, Surrey, UK) |
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Dicks, F.; Marks, T.; Karafillakis, E.; Chambers, M.A. Vaccination as a Control Tool in Bovine Tuberculosis: Social Media Monitoring to Assess Public Response to Government Policy Development and Implementation. Vaccines 2021, 9, 314. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9040314
Dicks F, Marks T, Karafillakis E, Chambers MA. Vaccination as a Control Tool in Bovine Tuberculosis: Social Media Monitoring to Assess Public Response to Government Policy Development and Implementation. Vaccines. 2021; 9(4):314. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9040314
Chicago/Turabian StyleDicks, Frederika, Tatjana Marks, Emilie Karafillakis, and Mark A Chambers. 2021. "Vaccination as a Control Tool in Bovine Tuberculosis: Social Media Monitoring to Assess Public Response to Government Policy Development and Implementation" Vaccines 9, no. 4: 314. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9040314