Abstract:

The vaccination debate has been going on since its first discovery. Today, there are intense discussions about COVID-19 vaccines. The widespread use of social media has accelerated discussions, and sometimes it has paved the way for the rapid spread of incorrect information. The aim of this study is to review the titles in Ekşi Sözlük, one of the most followed social media platforms in our country, to understand the trends about COVID-19 vaccines, which are considered as one of the most important elements of getting rid of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to bring them to the attention of the relevant people by making inferences from a public health perspective. The study covers between 21.01.2020, the date of the first title on COVID-19 vaccines in Ekşi Sözlük and 14/01/2021, the date of commencement of mass vaccination in Turkey. 1142 titles were included in the study (N=1142). 58.2% of the titles reviewed were categorized as "Speculation", 24.9% as "Discussion", 11.3% as "Humor" and 5.6% as "News". It is observed that the number of titles opened in December 2020, when discussions about vaccine supply were intense in our country, was statistically significantly higher than in other months (p<0.001). As a result of our study, it has been concluded that everyone who aims to correctly inform the society should not ignore platforms such as Ekşi Sözlük in order to establish interactive and dialogue-based communication.

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