Sudden Attention Shifts on Wikipedia During the COVID-19 Crisis

We study how the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the severe mobility restrictions that ensued, has impacted information access on Wikipedia, the world's largest online encyclopedia. A longitudinal analysis that combines pageview statistics for 12 Wikipedia language editions with mobility reports published by Apple and Google reveals massive shifts in the volume and nature of information seeking patterns during the pandemic. Interestingly, while we observe a transient increase in Wikipedia's pageview volume following mobility restrictions, the nature of information sought was impacted more permanently. These changes are most pronounced for language editions associated with countries where the most severe mobility restrictions were implemented. We also find that articles belonging to different topics behaved differently; e.g., attention towards entertainment-related topics is lingering and even increasing, while the interest in health- and biology-related topics was either small or transient. Our results highlight the utility of Wikipedia for studying how the pandemic is affecting people's needs, interests, and concerns.Comment: Manoel Horta Ribeiro, Kristina Gligori\'c and Maxime Peyrard contributed equally to this work. Also, this paper has been accepted at the 15th International Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM), please cite accordingl

Health Department Prevention/Education Plans and Perceived Risks of Zika Infection

AbstractZika virus is an infectious disease caused by the bite of an infected mosquito that has been linked to increased rates of microcephaly and other devastating birth defects. The existing body of knowledge has focused on the individual-level factors that influence a person’s decisions about prevention activities and risk perceptions related to Zika virus. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between state-level plans for prevention and education and individual-level risk perceptions. Rosenstock’s health belief model lays a foundation for why individuals make the health decisions they do and helps explain how these can be influenced for better health outcomes. The research questions addressed included understanding the relationship between public health departments’ level of engagement for prevention of Zika virus infection and the community’s perception of risk of contracting the virus; and the relationship between public health departments’ level of engagement for education of Zika virus infection and the community’s perception of risk of contracting the virus. A quantitative analysis of two datasets was performed to determine these relationships. An ordered logistic regression analysis was performed on the variables identified to address the research questions. A statistically significant relationship was found between high level of engagement in education activities and low risk perception. The results of this study will help health departments determine how to plan better for future Zika virus outbreaks. The positive social change implication of this study is that with better planning health departments can help reduce adverse health outcomes for their communities

Health Department Prevention/Education Plans and Perceived Risks of Zika Infection

AbstractZika virus is an infectious disease caused by the bite of an infected mosquito that has been linked to increased rates of microcephaly and other devastating birth defects. The existing body of knowledge has focused on the individual-level factors that influence a person’s decisions about prevention activities and risk perceptions related to Zika virus. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between state-level plans for prevention and education and individual-level risk perceptions. Rosenstock’s health belief model lays a foundation for why individuals make the health decisions they do and helps explain how these can be influenced for better health outcomes. The research questions addressed included understanding the relationship between public health departments’ level of engagement for prevention of Zika virus infection and the community’s perception of risk of contracting the virus; and the relationship between public health departments’ level of engagement for education of Zika virus infection and the community’s perception of risk of contracting the virus. A quantitative analysis of two datasets was performed to determine these relationships. An ordered logistic regression analysis was performed on the variables identified to address the research questions. A statistically significant relationship was found between high level of engagement in education activities and low risk perception. The results of this study will help health departments determine how to plan better for future Zika virus outbreaks. The positive social change implication of this study is that with better planning health departments can help reduce adverse health outcomes for their communities