 Public attitudes towards COVID-19 and social distancing are critical in reducing its spread. It is therefore important to understand public reactions, information dissemination and consensus building in all major forms, including on social media. This study analyses the most retweeted posts on Twitterduring 20 days in March to give insights into the issues that resonate with the public, and the role Twitter may play in social distancing campaigns. It reports a thematic analysis of  English-language tweets  March 10-29, 2020, mentioning COVID-19 or coronavirus and with over 100,000 retweets. These were extracted from a collection of 12 million. The main themes identified for the 87 qualifying tweets accounting for 14 million retweets were: lockdown life; attitude towards social restrictions; politics; safety messages; people with COVID-19; support for key workers; work; and COVID-19 facts/news. The results suggest that Twitter played many positive roles, mainly through unofficial tweets. For this, users shared social distancing information, helped build support for social distancing, criticised government responses, expressed support for key workers, and helped each other to cope with social isolation. Nevertheless, a few popular tweets not supporting social distancing show that government messages were not universally successful. Public health campaigns in future may consider encouraging grass roots social web activity to support campaign goals  .
Purpose: Public attitudes towards COVID-19 and social distancing are critical in reducing its spread. It is therefore important to understand public reactions, information dissemination and consensus building in all major forms, including social media. This article investigates important issues reflected on Twitter. Design/methodology/approach: A thematic analysis of the most retweeted English-language tweets on Twitter mentioning COVID-19 during March 10-29, 2020. Findings: The main themes identified for the 87 qualifying tweets accounting for 14 million retweets were: lockdown life; attitude towards social restrictions; politics; safety messages; people with COVID-19; support for key workers; work; and COVID-19 facts/news. Research limitations/implications: Twitter played many positive roles, mainly through unofficial tweets. Users shared social distancing information, helped build support for social distancing, criticised government responses, expressed support for key workers, and helped each other to cope with social isolation. A few popular tweets not supporting social distancing show that government messages sometimes failed. Practical implications: Public health campaigns in future may consider encouraging grass roots social web activity to support campaign goals . At a methodological level, analysing retweet counts emphasised politics and ignored practical implementation issues. Originality/value: This is the first qualitative analysis of general COVID-19-related retweeting .
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study analyses the most retweeted posts on Twitterduring 20 days in March to give insights into the issues that resonate with the public, and the role Twitter may play in social distancing campaigns. It reports a
article investigates important issues reflected on Twitter. Design/methodology/approach: A
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the most retweeted
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on Twitter mentioning COVID-19 during
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2020, mentioning COVID-19 or coronavirus and with over 100,000 retweets. These were extracted from a collection of 12 million.
2020. Findings:
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The results suggest that
Research limitations/implications:
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For this, users
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Nevertheless, a
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were not universally successful.
sometimes failed. Practical implications:
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. At a methodological level, analysing retweet counts emphasised politics and ignored practical implementation issues. Originality/value: This is the first qualitative analysis of general COVID-19-related retweeting