Polio Social Listening Data and Insights Dashboard

"Social listening is like a disease surveillance system, but instead of the virus, we track and analyze misinformation." - Adnan Shahzad, Digital Communication Manager of the UNICEF Polio Eradication Team

This dashboard provides information on specific trending narratives and false information about polio, including what information is spreading, the common themes referenced, and the level of risk narratives pose to vaccination efforts. Implemented under the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Digital Community Engagement (DCE) programme, alerts are typically published multiple times per week based on ongoing analysis of social listening data.

Data and insights are sourced from publicly accessible digital platforms, including social media, blogs, forums, and news sites, among others. However, the dashboard does not include data from WhatsApp and includes limited data from Facebook and Instagram. Data are monitored from polio-endemic and outbreak countries as classified by Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) across five UNICEF regions (Europe and Central Asia; Middle East and North Africa; Southern Africa; East and Southern Africa; and West and Central Africa), encompassing 12 major languages spoken in these countries, including: Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Pashto, Portuguese, Swahili, Tamil, and Urdu. 

Data for the dashboard are collected through keyword searches designed by public health researchers and social listening analysts. These searches use complex Boolean queries containing hundreds of keywords to capture as many relevant conversations about polio and polio vaccines as possible. Analysts regularly update the queries to adapt to evolving public discourse and exclude irrelevant data. 

Alerts are categorised as high, medium, and low risk:
 

• High risk: Narratives with widespread circulation across communities or countries, high engagement, exponential velocity, and a high potential to impact vaccination efforts.
• Medium risk: Narratives circulating in priority countries that may impact vaccination decisions. Potential for further spread due to the tactics used or because of predicted velocity. They may highlight legitimate questions and concerns, not just false claims.
• Low risk: Narratives that are limited in reach, are not impacting priority communities, or lack the qualities necessary for future spread. These alerts are nonetheless helpful because the narratives may indicate information gaps, confusion, or concerns.

Besides a list of the trending narratives, their locations, and risk categories, the dashboard also provides:  
 

• A chart highlighting data (on the number of posts, total impressions, and type of polio or polio vaccine mentioned) specific to polio outbreak countries over the past seven days (updated daily). The analysis includes data from the latest list of outbreak countries according to GPEI;
• A word cloud of the most commonly used hashtags in polio outbreak countries;
• A word cloud of the most commonly used phrases or words in polio outbreak countries;
• A chart highlighting data (on the number of posts, total impressions, and type of polio or polio vaccine mentioned) specific to polio-endemic countries (Pakistan and Afghanistan) over the past seven days (updated daily);
• A word cloud of the most commonly used hashtags specific to polio-endemic countries; and
• A word cloud of the most commonly used phrases or words specific to polio-endemic countries.