Public Perceptions of Veterinarians from Social and Online Media Listening

Abstract

The public perception of the veterinary medicine profession is of increasing concern given the mounting challenges facing the industry, ranging from student debt loads to mental health implications arising from compassion fatigue, euthanasia, and other challenging aspects of the profession. This analysis employs social media listening and analysis to discern top themes arising from social and online media posts referencing veterinarians. Social media sentiment analysis is also employed to aid in quantifying the search results, in terms of whether they are positivity/negativity associated. From September 2017-November 2019, over 1.4 million posts and 1.7 million mentions were analyzed; the top domain in the search results was Twitter (74%). The mean net sentiment associated with the search conducted over the time period studied was 52%. The top terms revealed in the searches conducted revolved mainly around care of or concern for pet animals. The recognition of challenges facing the veterinary medicine profession were notably absent, except for the mention of suicide risks. While undeniably influenced by the search terms selected, which were directed towards client–clinic related verbiage, a relative lack of knowledge regarding veterinarians’ roles in human health, food safety/security, and society generally outside of companion animal care was recognized. Future research aimed at determining the value of veterinarians’ contributions to society and, in particular, in the scope of One Health, may aid in forming future communication and education campaigns.