ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2025
Social Media Metrics and Popular Legitimacy: Content Analysis of Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Public Engagement With the World Health Organization on X.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Dataset on public engagement with the world health organization on X (Twitter) from 2008 to 2021.Data in brief · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) plays a critical role in global health governance, but its popular legitimacy, a measure of public trust and support, has been contested, particularly during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. While legitimacy is widely studied through normative and elite-focused approaches, empirical assessments using public discourse remain limited. Social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) offer real-time data for evaluating public sentiment toward the WHO.
objectiveThis study aims to assess the evolution of the WHO's popular legitimacy from 2008 to 2021 by analyzing public engagement metrics on X, with a particular focus on changes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsWe analyzed 46,667 tweets from the WHO using computational methods, including the retweet-to-reply ratio, sentiment analysis, and longitudinal trend evaluation. Metrics such as likes, retweets, and replies were examined to quantify public sentiment, with the retweet-to-reply ratio serving as a key indicator of controversy and support levels.
resultsThe WHO's popular legitimacy was stable from 2008 to 2019 but declined significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting heightened public scrutiny and criticism. Engagement metrics revealed increased replies relative to retweets during this period, indicating greater controversy in public discourse.
conclusionsThis study demonstrates the feasibility of using social media metrics to measure international organization (IO) legitimacy over time. The findings highlight the impact of global crises on public trust and provide a replicable framework for assessing the legitimacy of other IOs. Social media engagement offers valuable insights for IOs to adapt communication strategies and maintain public trust during crises.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.