Unraveling the Hesitancy: Analyzing Conspiracy Theories About the Covid-19 Vaccine through ‘Twitter ‘

Year 2024, Issue: 13, 64 - 84, 30.04.2024

Ebru Gökaliler Özlem Alikılıç

https://doi.org/10.32739/etkilesim.2024.7.13.241

Abstract

The vaccine hesitancy developed during the COVID-19 pandemic has spread the disease, delayed immunity, and increased death rates. Social media platforms have contributed to the spread of doubts, misinformation about vaccines. Twitter, being one of the most popular social networks in Turkiye, has become a significant platform for vaccine polarization. This study aims to examine the reasons for vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy theories developed by Turkish users on Twitter. 3939 tweets were analyzed with the hashtags #aşıyahayır (#notovaccine), #aşıolmayacağım (#Iwillnotgetvaccinated), #denekolmaTürkiye(#donotbeatestsubjectTurkiye), #aşıolmakistemiyorum(#Idonotwanttogetvaccinated). The examined categories are as follows: scientific (the highest number of comments in this category were related to medical side effects), miscellaneous (the highest number of comments were about the lack of mentioning reasons for vaccine hesitancy), conspiracy theories (the highest number of comments were about major pharmaceutical companies), and general content (opinions against administering Covid-19 vaccines to children).

Keywords

Covid-19, Covid-19 Vaccine, Vaccine Hesitancy, Twitter, Conspiracy Theory.

Project Number

BAP 121

Aşı Tereddüdünü Anlamak: Covid-19 Aşısı ile İlgili Komplo Teorilerinin ‘Twitter’ Üzerinden Analizi

Abstract

Covid-19 pandemisi sırasında gelişen aşı tereddütü hastalığın yayılmasına, bağışıklığın gecikmesine ve ölüm oranlarının artmasına neden olmuştur. Sosyal medya platformları, aşılar hakkındaki şüphelerin ve yanlış bilgilerin yayılmasına katkıda bulunmuştur. Türkiye'de en popüler sosyal ağlardan biri olan Twitter, aşı karşıtlığı için önemli bir platform haline gelmiştir. Bu çalışma, Türk kullanıcıları tarafından Twitter'da geliştirilen aşı tereddüdü ve komplo teorilerinin nedenlerini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. #aşıyahayır, #aşıolmayacağım, #denekolmaTürkiye, #aşıolmakistemiyorum gibi etiketlerle atılmış 3939 tweet analiz edildi. İncelenen kategoriler arasında bilimsel (bu kategorideki en yüksek sayıdaki yorumlar genellikle tıbbi yan etkilerle ilgili), çeşitli (en yüksek sayıdaki yorumlar aşı tereddüdü nedenlerinin belirtilmemesi ile ilgili), komplo teorileri (en yüksek sayıdaki yorumlar büyük ilaç şirketleriyle ilgili) ve genel içerik (Covid-19 aşılarının çocuklara uygulanmasına karşı görüşler) yer almıştır.

Keywords

Covid-19, Covid-19 Aşısı, Aşı Tereddütü, Twitter, Komplo Teorisi

Ethical Statement

Bu çalışma Yaşar Üniversitesi Proje Değerlendirme Komisyonu (PDK) tarafından kabul edilen BAP121 no.lu ve “Covid-19 Pandemisinde Türkiye’de Aşı Karşıtlığına Dair Kamuoyu Araştırması” başlıklı proje kapsamında desteklenmiştir.

Supporting Institution

Yaşar Üniversitesi

Project Number

BAP 121

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