Table 1.
Three themes related to the global Monkeypox situation, along with the respective topics and sample tweets (N = 352,182).
| Theme and topic (keywords) | Sample tweets | Number of tweets, n (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Theme 1: Concerns about personal safety | ||
| Topic 1: Concerns about the escalating spread of Monkeypox outbreak (smallpox vaccine, reported, immune, county, doses, pox monkeypox, vaccine monkeypox, monkey pox monkeypox, endemic, international) | “Monkey pox outbreak after debauchery month? Who would have thought?” | 188,102 (53.4) |
| “Monkey pox. Monkey pox is happening” | ||
| “So now monkey pox about to be on y all ass” | ||
| Topic 3: Misconception on protective ability of face masks (wearing mask, wearing masks, wear masks, mask monkeypox, n95, air, recommends, mask monkey pox, monkeypox masks, monkeypox mask) | “And where on our body exactly are we supposed to wear them to prevent monkeypox ?” | 7212 (2.1) |
| “I started using latex gloves again, along with a mask. I don t want Covid or MonkeyPox. Watched a video yesterday that recommended the gloves - especially at the gas station and grocery store.” | ||
| “I wear masks whenever I'm indoors with other people. It's just sensible, Covid has not ceased to exist, and monkeypox is spread through droplets, too. I have also avoided my usual winter colds and flu.” | ||
| Theme 2: Stigma towards minority communities | ||
| Topic 2: Stigma towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) and racial minority communities (community, transmission, pride, bisexual, sexually, gays, lgbtq, close contact, gay bisexual, monkeypox gay) | “I see the WHO is declaring war on the gays. They are being fingered to bare [sic] the brunt for the monkeypox. Let s [sic] see this will end up.” | 39,947 (11.3) |
| “I was not fearful of Covid, I'm not fearful of monkeypox but being gay I'm fearful of people who believe this being a gay disease.” | ||
| “These articles doing reporting on Monkey Pox keep showing images of Black people when there is no correlation. They know exactly what they're doing. NBC did the same thing.” | ||
| Theme 3: Lack of faith in institutions | ||
| Topic 5: Lack of faith in governmental efforts to contain Monkeypox (biden monkeypox, biden administration, biden says, monkeypox biden, admin, president biden, biden admin, biden said, pox biden, monkey pox biden) | “A full 56% of #American #voters say they don't #trust that the #Biden #Administration and the #President's chief #medical #adviser Dr. #AnthonyFauci will handle the #Monkeypox #outbreak properly, #GOP #Midterms2022.” | 2828 (0.8) |
| “President Biden said that the new monkeypox outbreak should concern everybody My concern is how this shit came to the US in a first place? Southern border? So, should we be focusing on fixing this problem first?”’ | ||
| “I m blaming Biden for the Monkey Pox outbreak probably brought over from illegals that aren t vetted or even checked out to make sure they aren t contagious.” | ||
| Topic 4: Misinformation on Monkeypox as a political conspiracy (ballots, mail ballots, democrat, midterm elections, mid terms, terms, time midterms, cheat, nov, variant) | “Dems have run through every conceivable ‘controversy’ [sic] to try and destroy America. Covid Lockdowns Mandates Jan 6 Afghanistan Inflation Food shortage Gas prices Crime On and on. They tried Monkey Pox. THEYLL DO ANYTHING TO STAY IN POWER ANYTHING.” | 4629 (1.3) |
| “Monkeypox?!!!! What will the Dems think of next? Have to have another virus to screw up midterms. America, have you had enough of this insanity?” | ||
| “Monkey Pox … suddenly being elevated right on schedule with the 2022 Mid-terms …. and given the past two years of Authoritarian like control, one can already predict how this is going to go …” | ||