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Australians have turned to Twitter to stay connected during the pandemic

By
Monday, 6 September 2021

From #StayHomeSaveLives to #ToiletPaper to Picnic led conversations, Twitter has been where Australians have turned to over the last year and a half to find out what’s happening.

Since the onset of the global pandemic, Twitter has played a critical role in keeping Aussies informed, entertained, connected, and in amplifying authoritative information from credible sources. 

During these trying times, Aussies have turned to Twitter to find the latest developments on COVID-19, from quarantine regulations to tips on how to stop the spread. People have also taken to the platform to share their personal experiences in lockdown, including how they’ve adapted to homeschooling and working from home. It has been humbling to see people using Twitter as a real-time mental health and wellbeing helpline.

With Australia’s vaccine rollout expanding, Aussies are participating in varying conversations around this topic. Our partnership with the Australian Department of Health to launch the #KnowTheFacts search prompt ensures the community has access to credible information related to immunisations, including COVID-19 vaccines, at the top of their search experience. 

COVID-19 Conversation Trends

In the past week, Aussies have taken to Twitter in droves to discuss new freedoms on the horizon for fully-vaxxed Sydney-siders. So much so, picnic-related conversations were up at least 1300% when Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that as of September 13, up to five fully vaxxed individuals can gather outdoors in NSW for an hour. 

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Whilst, picnics may have been a hot topic over the past week, vaccine-related Tweets are up 423% from 2020 to 2021 with a notable switch in conversation around jab eligibility in 2021 vs #socialdistancing rules and #flatteningthecurve in 2020.

From a broader perspective, between March 2020 and August 2021, there have been more than 22.2 million COVID-19 related Tweets in Australia. From reactions to new restriction measures to rallying support for the less privileged, Australians have been connecting with one another, especially during the lockdowns. 

Here are some of the top COVID-19 related hashtags that were used by Aussies on Twitter from  March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2021:

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And each time a lockdown was announced, Aussies saw an increase of conversations around #toiletpaper, and #panicbuying.

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Staying United and Informed in Evolving Circumstances

During these unprecedented times, the community have come together encouraging and supporting other Aussies in the ways they could - from sharing availability of vaccine appointments to supporting local businesses. In addition to that, Aussies showed a united front by using #inthistogether and #getvaccinatednow to remind people that there is a community that looks after the welfare of others.

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Protecting the Health & Safety of Conversations

With conversations around COVID-19 continuing to grow, we introduced an expansion of our #KnowTheFacts prompt, which we specifically put in place for the public to find clear, credible information on immunisation and vaccination health.

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At Twitter, our top priority is to serve the public conversation and recognising that misinformation was quickly spreading, we implemented our COVID-19 misleading information policy. To date Twitter has challenged 11.7 million accounts, suspended 1,496 accounts, and removed over 43,010 pieces of content worldwide.

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