Coronavirus: It’s Become The World’s First Infodemic
I know I haven’t written in a while but I’m back and I felt compelled to write this blog today because of the unique circumstances with which we are all dealing with the impact of this to people’s lives, businesses and health.
We haven’t ever quite experienced anything like what is happening today in 2020 with this new virus that is spreading across the world. And we certainly haven’t experienced anything like the volume and velocity of information that is being spread across Chinese and global social media. What we are witnessing is the lightening spread of information, misinformation, giving rise to panic, racism and how it impacts media sentiment, and markets globally.
This week we have seen the narrative was focus back again on the themes of “death” “concern,” and “anxiety.” Global stocks are falling post the impact of the containment in Milan and it has been noted that more than 80,000 people in more than 40 countries have been infected with the new coronavirus, which emerged in December. The vast majority of cases still remain in China. With the disease killing 2,700 people to date. The narrative as seen on social channels like Twitter now highlights a focus on “lockdowns,” “outbreak spreading,” and “containment” across Europe and beyond.
Today, there are over 2.4m hits on Google regarding this topic and a quick look at Google Trends in the U.K highlights the concerns and fears that this is driving. People are scared and need to understand what specifically is being done by government and key organisations to protect them.
The impact on brands such as Corona Beer has been devastating. Corona is getting flak on social media for an ill-timed “coming ashore soon” campaign for its hard seltzer.
A promotional post on Twitter earlier this week shows four cans of the hard seltzer on a beach and the words “Coming ashore soon.” The post was panned for being in poor taste as fears of the Coronavirus escalate.
The brewer behind Corona beer has warned of the steepest decline in quarterly profit for at least a decade after the coronavirus outbreak cost it $170 million (£132 million) in lost profit.
Anheuser-Busch InBev forecast that its first-quarter earnings will tumble by about 10 per cent after the virus saw demand slump in China. The outbreak also coincided with the Chinese New Year, sending the company’s shares 8 per cent lower.
So how is digital impacting this situation? Well, across the world digital and social media is still driving a lot of badly qualified and checked data. We need to be vigilant and calm when sharing on our Facebook newsfeed or blog. We as users and part of this global community need to allow the authorities like the World Health Organisation (WHO) to share robust facts about the impact and spread. I would like to encourage everyone who is interested in this topic to follow and share their information such as the latest Tweet this morning which includes the latest situational report on the virus. The data is from a trusted source and can, therefore, be shared with confidence.
The report can be found here. Let’s not add to the panic, let’s share information from reliable sources and let’s stay healthy. As always I’d love your thoughts, comments and feedback on my posts. I hope you like this one. If you’d like me to write about any topic pertaining to digital media then please drop me a note in the comments below or DM me via any of the normal channels.
