World of worry

It’s an understatement to say a lot has happened in the last six weeks. To get an idea of how people have been coping, we’ve been tracking anxiety levels over time through Qriously surveys.

We polled thousands of adults through their smartphones and tablets, asking them how anxious they are on a scale of one to five (one being ‘Not at all’, and five being ‘Very’).¹

Today we’re just looking at those who picked either one or five to compare the extremes. Here’s how the data turned out.

At no point did the very anxious outnumber the not-at-all anxious, but there is still a significant number of people choosing that option. In our last three surveys, nearly a fifth (18%) of respondents said they were very anxious about Covid-19.

This is worrying news. With face-to-face mental health treatment harder to access than normal, there may be a sharp uptick in demand for support when lockdowns begin to ease. In the meantime, thankfully, online mental health services are being set up.

On a more positive note, the number of those with no anxiety around the pandemic is at its highest level so far, with 24% putting themselves in this group. If the situations in the countries we survey continue to improve, we can expect this number to do the same.

Concern about contact tracing apps

The UK, US, and Australia are rolling out contact tracing apps, as part of their plan to return to normality. These aim to alert a user if they’ve been in the proximity of someone who has Covid-19, so they can self-isolate and slow the spread.

Using our Consumer Research platform to investigate English-language mentions of contact tracing apps from January 1 to April 26, we found 349k people debating the rollouts fiercely.

This was especially true in recent weeks. Mentions increased by 84% in April compared to March, as reality set in.

Conversations around mobile apps in development and in the market are driven by negativity, especially as conversation grows and the prospect of a tracking app becomes reality. In April, sentiment-segmented conversation revealed social mentions to be 67% negative and only 33% positive.

Social users who are against these apps are worried about their data and security. 29k social users talked about privacy concerns, while 46k questioned how their data would be stored and processed.

There were also some bureaucratic concerns. 35k people mentioned they did not agree with how or with whom the government awarded the contract in the UK and US. And another 28k people – mostly in the US – had concerns about who would own or potentially run a contact tracing app.

But for those positive about tracing apps, we found tens of thousands happy to submit their data in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Anything to do with data and privacy is a hot topic, especially when it comes to personal health. No matter how good the cause, there are obviously going to be concerns around tracing apps. Government agencies will have their work cut out for them allaying any fears.

Code to joy

There’s never not a good time to learn to code. Not only is it excellent for your job prospects or finding new ways to get creative, it’s also good exercise for the brain.

With that in mind, we’re happy to report a big jump in people learning to code since mid-March. In January and February, around 2,500 people mentioned learning to code each week. Now, for most weeks, it’s well over 4,000.

There are a number of potential reasons for this.

A big one, the same one that’s driving jumps in DIY and baking conversations, is that people are spending more time at home, or at least have more time on their hands. It’s clear people want to get productive and expand their skill set.

The darker side of this excess free time is that it can result from a loss of work. In the US alone, 26m are now out of work. For many people in this category, coding isn’t just a way to pass the time – it’s a route to finding a new job and standing out in a highly competitive market.

But what languages are people focusing on? We’ve got that data too.

Python is way out in front here. This isn’t too shocking as the language is a good starting point for those with no prior coding knowledge – it’s even taught to kids in schools. And it’s a good time to be learning, too. There are a slew of online coding resources people can turn to during lockdown.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s free weekly Covid-19 report

We go into far more detail in our expansive report out tomorrow.

Head here to find out more and get signed up.

Thanks for reading

That’s it for another day. See you tomorrow.

Stay safe,

Brandwatch Response Team

¹ Note: All surveys are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error. On the basis of the historical record of the polls at recent general elections, there is a 9 in 10 chance that the true value of a survey result lies within 4 points of the estimates provided by this survey, and a 2 in 3 chance that they lie within 2 points.