Relationship between user behaviors and number of COVID-19 positives interpreted from Twitter data #13

Date: 2021.12.07
Researcher: Masashi Toyoda
Organization: Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo

Analysis of risk behavior-related Tweets

・Tweets related to actions of high infection risk were extracted and compared with positive COVID-19 cases. Tweets including the following keywords were subject to analysis:
　-Drinking session, End-of-year Party, Christmas Party, New Year Party (Respectively 飲み会、忘年会、クリスマスパーティ、新年会 in Japanese)
　-Karaoke (カラオケ in Japanese)
　-Fitness center (ジム in Japanese)
　-Hanami (“Flower-viewing”, 花見 in Japanese)
　-Barbecue (バーベキュー in Japanese)
・The situations within Tokyo and Osaka regions were compared with each other, using location information from Twitter user profiles.

Summary

・The number of excursion-related tweets nationwide is descending, following a shift in trend after the termination of state of emergency declaration.
　-Tweets related to drinking sessions continued to increase, currently staying at the level during late-October 2020.
　-Tweets related to End-of-year party is increasing rapidly; caution is advised.
　-Tweets related to Karaoke increased rapidly after the termination of state of emergency declaration, followed by a slow descent; currently it remains at the level of July 2021.
・The patterns within each prefecture follow its nationwide counterpart.
　-In Tokyo and Hokkaido, tweets related to Karaoke decreased, while those related to End-of-year party increased beyond the level of the former.
　-In Osaka and Aichi, tweets related to Karaoke and End-of-year party remained in the same level.