Pandemic made people supportive, caring on Twitter, Google

NEW YORK:

The use of the words like sacrifice, share and help more than doubled on Twitter and Google from before the pandemic to the period after March 13, according to new research, saying that internet trends suggest Covid-19 spurred a return to earlier values and activities among people. Researchers from University of California-Los Angeles and Harvard University analysed how two types of internet activity changed in the US for 10 weeks before and 10 weeks after March 13, 2020. Use of the word “help” on Twitter increased by 37% in the period after March 13, while use of the word “share” increased by 24%. The research also found that use of the word “sacrifice” more than doubled on Twitter from before the pandemic to the period after March 13. “‘Sacrifice’ was a complete nonstarter in U.S. culture before Covid,” Greenfield said.