How Political Rhetoric on Twitter Altered Responses during COVID-19

• In Event: Studying the Impact of Information Technology on Citizens

Abstract

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11th, 2020. However, this declaration by a renowned public health authority did not lead to altered perceptions surrounding the degree of the threat by the totality of the American public. Disparate communication from various sources led to increased confusion about the nature of the crisis and the degree of necessary preventative measures. Social media has played a large role in the spread of information and misinformation alike, and the volatility of COVID-19 exacerbated the concern surrounding these platforms. Twitter specifically has increasingly been documented as a platform for political communication, with every governor now holding an active Twitter account, some with millions of followers. Using API, every tweet mentioning COVID-19 by governors, various healthcare organizations and leaders, and notable political figures such as Joe Biden and Donald Trump, was collected during 2020 (totaling 23,403 tweets across 36 Twitter pages). This paper explores how the rhetorical choices made during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic by influential political leaders in the United States influences COVID-19 outcomes (cases, deaths, vaccination rates, etc.) across states. I find that words do matter, and are even, perhaps, more influential than policy. Rhetoric by political leaders on social media affects public perceptions, actions, and the outcomes which subsequently follow. This study fills a gap in the literature surrounding the influence of rhetoric at the gubernatorial, organizational and individual level during times of crisis, allowing for better predictability in response during unpredictable times.

Author

• Trudy Horsting, Arizona State University