The Impact of Comment Slant and Comment Tone on Digital Health Communication Among Polarized Publics: A Web-Based Survey Experiment

Pro-mask-wearing comments enhanced presumed influence and compliance of mask-wearing, but incivility in the comments hindered this positive impact. Antimaskers showed increased compliance when they were unable to find civil support for their opinion in the social media environment. The findings suggest the need to correct and moderate uncivil language and misleading information in online comment sections while encouraging the posting of supportive and civil comments. In addition, information literacy programs are needed to prevent the public from being misled by polarized comments.