18.2 18.2 In Practice: Adapting Social Analytics for Research Response

Abstract Social analytics had its genesis in the defense and communication sectors. At the outset of the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, social analytics techniques were adapted and modified to support social mobilization, communication, and community engagement (SMC) efforts in Liberia. The experience demonstrated that social analytics provides a powerful tool for understanding community beliefs, identifying trusted sources of information, monitoring rumors, and public understanding (or not) of research and response interventions. Utilization of social analytics techniques has been increasing; for example, supporting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the large 2018–2020 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in its eastern provinces, as well as in COVID-19 vaccination efforts, and more recently in support of WHO AFRO. Social analytics can often be misconstrued as social media monitoring, but effective social analytics requires comprehensive “listening”; a holistic approach to available social data, including online content, news and broadcast content, field research; and, perhaps most distinctively, local, on-the-ground experts knowledgeable about the social and cultural context. Social analytics must thus be used to gather and analyze data close to operational teams. Societal and community beliefs can vary between neighboring communities, and it should never be assumed that one community will react to events or messages the same way as others. Beliefs and attitudes also change throughout a health emergency. Therefore, social analytics must be geographically precise and updated weekly to stay current and inform effective disinformation countermeasures and risk communications. What began as work with NIAID on a single outbreak in West Africa has evolved into a powerful tool for informing communication, messaging, and dialogue with communities and broader populations during health emergencies. Social analytics is now an established, powerful tool for assisting social mobilization committee (SMC) pillars, research sponsors, and host governments as they respond to health emergencies.