Thread by @cperry248

There are three #COVID19 crises happening in parallel: public health, economic and information. The information crisis is least understood. Posting a thread for context, how we might prep for an info onslaught to come.

1/ Some context to start…three data points that inform why Americans had such different points of view on the severity of the crisis. That is until social life as we know it shut down in the last 48 hours.

2/ Last week, cable COVID-19 mentions increased 3x. Interactions on stories in social media increased 7x. Google searches 8x. In *some circles* this sparked panic buying, toilet paper runs, search for masks. Tip: @kalevleetaru realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/…

3/ .@gdeltproject
data: Fox dedicated 77% more airtime to #COVID19 than MSNBC. @CivicScience poll: 44% of Fox News watchers were *not concerned at all* with the prospect of coronavirus. MSNBC 5% not concerned. 2 data points tell us something.

4/ Of course Fox and MSNBC contextualize the virus with respect to Trump and government response rather than straight. Tribalism distorts perspective, both the supply of it and how it’s seen. blog.gdeltproject.org/trump-is-menti…

5/ News networks not the best sources for reliable information based on hard facts to make tough decisions. Cable news and social networks are opinion-based, feed off argument and elevate conspiracy theories. We know that but overlook it when in crisis mode.

6/ Situation is made harder by the spread of inaccurate details, rumors circulating on social media. Disinformation is a major challenge dealing with the info crisis. Lots of reference but see @nytimes story here.
nytimes.com/2020/03/08/tec…

7/ Sources like @FirstDraftNews helping journalists, experts understand how to deal with disinfo. Good resource for anyone who wants to understand it. firstdraftnews.org/long-form-arti…

8/ Backdrop points to a media design failure more than political agendas. Incentives don't fit with public service info needed in a global crisis. As #COVID19 spreads we’ll grow more desperate for neutral, unembellished facts “media” can't provide.

9/ So what to do now? Surface, connect and build out our own "expert" networks.

10/ New compositions in play: Twitter lists, data sources, content aggregators, deep reporting, non-profits, government sources. Some examples....

11/ Found by far Twitter best place to understand real time updates/consequences. Experts deep into health, economics, media, disinformation, like...
@HelenBranswell
@MichaelDavid80
@PeterAttiaMD
@PlanetDr
@LizSpecht
@ScottGottliebMD
@balajis
@cward1e
@tferris
@TylerCohen

12/ Health data presented from a portfolio of dashboards popping up all over the world. Dissecting details in other markets essential to anticipate what might come here. Need more data presentations in the U.S. once testing ramps up.

13/ Case #1 CSSE @JohnsHopkins coronavirus dashboard has been visited more than 200 million times, with visitors hailing from nearly every country in the world. systems.jhu.edu/research/publi…

14/ Case #2: Upcode scrapes data from Singapore Ministry of Health's own dashboard (as @mitechreview notes gov is exceptionally transparent about coronavirus case data). co.vid19.sg/dashboard

15/ Case #3: @nextstrain presents data for those wanting to learn about coronavirus’s genomic evolution nextstrain.org/ncov

16/ Info aggregators also very helpful for historical and current info. Just came across #CoronavirusSyllabus shared by @alondra Another good example being @a16z readings here. a16z.com/2020/03/08/nov…

17/ Deep reporting from range investigative journalists, find @theatlantic to be publishing remarkable, discomforting reporting on second, third order impact. theatlantic.com/category/coron…

18/ Can't overlook authoritative public and private sector sources like
@WHO
@CDCgov
@NYCMayor
@HarvardHealth
but must deepen perspective and field of vision of what’s happening.

19/ As the crisis escalates, so will the search for expert, trustworthy info on the spread and its effects. New entrants in the media sphere…data hackers, universities, VC's, health experts…stepping in to fill voids.