Journal of Media Studies, Vol 36, No 1 (2021)

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Character of COVID-19 Prevention Information of CDC and its Impact on Online Engagement

Fanbin Zeng

Abstract


This study investigated the character of COVID-19 prevention information of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Twitter account and its impact on online engagement based on Framing theory, Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM), and Reactance theory. The current study analyzed the content of tweets from the CDC Twitter account quantitatively and qualitatively. A census of the tweets from CDC (N1=201) and comments on the sample of these tweets (N2=100) were collected and subsequently coded. Results showed that COVID-19 prevention information was more gain-framed appeals than loss-framed. The number of comments, retweets, and likes were found to be highly and positively related to each other. Messages of more efficacy elements, rather than messages originality, in the tweets led to more online engagement. However, even the efficacy elements of the tweets of CDC account instigated online engagement, almost half of the comments from these tweets showed reactance. The theoretical implications were discussed, as well as limitations and suggestions for future research.


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