Echo chambers on social media, considered to be a major factor for accelerating political fragmentation, is becoming apparent as a social problem. An echo chamber environment can be a breeding ground for fake news and hate speech, and may have a negative influence on democratic decision-making. In this paper, we investigate echo chambers by analyzing social media data and build a mathematical model that reproduces their characteristics. The simulation results show that the speed of echo chamber formation is affected by the magnitude of social influence and the frequency of social disconnection or unfollow. Furthermore, the social data analysis revealed that following a small number of users with opposite political beliefs may encourage information diversity, while mitigating the formation of echo chambers.

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In this study, we focused on the richness of social and cultural capital in residential environments as situational factors that influence our attitudes and behaviors. We proposed POI (Point of Interest) information of location-based games as an index for this purpose, and examined its validity. First, we indexed how many“ PokéStops” of “Pokémon GO” are located in the area by calculating the density based on the latitude and longitude information of their locations, then examined the relationship between this index and social survey data targeting citizens in the area. Analyses using two sets of data with different resolutions showed a significant positive correlation between density and satisfaction with the living environment for the coarse resolution data, but not for the high-resolution data. We discussed the necessity of considering characteristics other than density, and the significance of using various artifacts as environmental cues.

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In the spread of the new coronavirus infection that became apparent from the beginning of 2020, surveys have revealed that people in Japan have diminished their trust in the government, even though the pandemic’s real impact was relatively small, this study is based on Japanese data obtained in May 2020 by the “Values in a Crisis （VIC）” survey, in which the authors participated. We analyzed how three types of harm caused by the COVID-19 ― physical harm （i. e., infection）, economic harm （i. e., loss of work and income）, and psychological harm （i. e., anxiety） ― affected the trust and evaluation of various institutional actors. Multilevel multiple regression analysis yielded the following findings: （1） Physical harm caused by the infectious disease was more common among young people, while economic harm among women, low - income groups, and urban dwellers, and both types of harm increased people’s psychological anxiety. （2） The pattern of trust in the national government and in 110 the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare （MHLW） was similar, with high - income, conservative ideology, and trust in other people increasing the trust in these institutions, while objective harm, measured as of the cumulative number of infected people in prefectures, pushing down trust. （3） The experience of physical harm reduced trust in the prime minister. （4） The pattern of trust in local government leaders was somewhat apolitical; it was similar to those in medical professionals and experts, and trust was lower among those who experienced strong anxiety． （5） Media and press were more likely to be trusted by women, the elderly, those living in large households, and those on the left on the political spectrum.

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Burgeoning literature on COVID-19 measures within Japan and abroad has argued the importance of trust in government. Surprisingly, however, trust in government ranked low in Japan under the pandemic, while Japanese citizens have by and large followed the governmental guidance. This article addresses this apparent mismatch by conceptually separating the government per se and the experts who advise it and emphasizing trust in medical experts and medical systems as a more crucial element. We use three original surveys conducted in February-March 2021 to test our claim on various related issues: infection risk perception, social distancing, new normal, and vaccine acceptance. Our evidence addresses the possibility that trust in government cannot precisely explain the effectiveness of COVID-19 measures.

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The COVID-19 crisis occurred on December 2019 that was prevalent in Tokyo. The risk communication of infection disease is important to build between the local authority and the citizens, and in particular, the governor needs to offer information about COVID-19 measures to them as the face of local authority. Risk-avoiders have a tendency to mistrust the risk management actor because they are on alert for infection. Although risk-avoiders take the attitude and behavior related to the risk-taking by media exposure, how will it impact to build the trust with the governor and to the policy evaluation? The purpose of this study is to elucidate the factors to explain the trust of the governor and policy evaluation. As a result, in the early stage of infection spread, the more people avoid risk, the more they exposure TV, and they build the trust of the governor by the policy evaluation.

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