Face mask perception during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study of Russian online social network VKontakte

TL;DR

This study analyzes attitudes towards face mask mandates during COVID-19 on VKontakte, revealing demographic and political differences in perceptions, with vulnerable groups underestimating mask benefits and opposition supporters highly approving.

Contribution

It provides novel insights into social media attitudes towards mask mandates in Russia, highlighting demographic and political factors influencing perceptions.

Findings

Men and elders underestimate mask benefits.

Opposition supporters highly approve of mask mandates.

Supporters of the government are less likely to approve.

Abstract

This cross-sectional study characterizes users' attitudes towards the face mask requirements introduced by the Russian government as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We study how they relate to other users' characteristics such as age, gender, and political attitudes. Our results indicate that men and elder individuals - demographic groups that are most vulnerable to COVID-19 -- underestimate the benefits of wearing face masks. We also discovered that users in opposition to the Russian government highly approve of this anti-COVID-19 measure -- an oppositionist will approve of the face mask requirements with the probability of 0.95. For those who support the Russian government, the odds of approval are merely 0.45.