Tweets soared 7 times higher during Covid-19 second wave peak: Twitter

During India's second Covid-19 wave, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were inundated with requests from people across the country who were looking for oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, plasma donors and ventilators.

The average number of tweets about Covid-19 from India shot up by seven times during the peak of the second wave in April-May this year as compared to the February-March period, microblogging site Twitter said on Wednesday.

The Twitter App loads on an iPhone in this illustration photograph taken in Los Angeles, California. (REUTERS)

As India found itself amid a deadly disease outbreak compounded with shortage of medical resources, social media platforms became the primary resort of citizens for seeking and providing help. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were inundated with requests from people across the country who were looking for oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, plasma donors and ventilators.

The replies in the said period also witnessed a surge, Twitter officials said in a statement. "The average daily number of tweets about Covid-19 from India increased by over 600% (7 times) during the surge (April 1-May 31, 2021). People in India came together to support each other and share information, bolstering replies during the surge months by 1.5 times," the statement read.

The key observation also found tweets from medical professionals in India increased by 1.5 times during the surge period as they used Twitter to share important information.

The social media platform added that the tweets on Covid-19 grew manifold during April 1-May 31, 2021 with the service witnessing 100% growth in Covid-19 conversations compared with the previous two months.

Lauding the public efforts, Twitter said an incredibly positive people's movement to support one another took shape on the service.

"With the onset of the second wave of Covid-19 in India, Twitter emerged as a real-time helpline as people turned to the service seeking and offering help to secure life-saving facilities, medicines, food, and much more," Twitter said.

Here are the key trends that gained momentum on Twitter:

• Tweets about seeking or providing medical help increased by 1958 per cent (20 times).
• #Covid19 was tweeted 77 per cent more during April-May.
• #Blood was tweeted 72 per cent more as compared to the February-March period
• #Plasma saw an 834 per cent increase and #SOS was tweeted 152 per cent more during this time.
• Tweets around #Vaccine and #Vaccination went up by 246 per cent.
• Tweets with hashtags - #CoronavirusUpdates, #CoronaIndiaUpdate, #Covid19IndiaResources and others - amped up conversations by 10 times
• To support this conversation, Twitter introduced a home Timeline prompt that points people to vaccine-related updates and information from authoritative sources
• People also came forward to contribute to relief efforts, and fundraising conversations went up by 731 per cent (8x).
• Mental well-being recorded 153 per cent (2.5X) increase during the surge period
• People tweeted with hashtags such as #DoctorsMentalhealth, #CovidCounselling, #CovidDepression, #CovidInsomnia, and others
• Tweets on #IndiaFightsCorona saw a 530 per cent increase, while #DelhiFightsCorona and #MaharashtraFightsCorona also witnessed a significant increase in tweets

"More than ever, Twitter remains committed to serving the public conversation. It introduced a number of features and initiatives in support of the Covid-19 conversation in India," the statement said.