How the Pandemic Effected Social Media Users
By: Joey Brewer
Introduction
One of the major effects that the pandemic had on social media was the fact that there were so many posts pertaining to COVID that it caused a lot of people to suffer mentally and emotionally because they were so scared. Since the very first post of the COVID-19 epidemic around December 2019, media has been a prime territory for details about the uncommon coronavirus to spread. The info that was let out around this time was all over different media platforms and caused people to have various emotions towards the situation. With the mass amount of accurate info and inaccurate info being posted on social media during this time, it caused a lot of users to go into an array of panic and uncertainty.
Some Stats
Within the article “COVID-19 pandemic: a sentiment analysis” written by Ashish Kumar, it is stated that they used an application programming interface (API) that tracked over 10,000 tweets, in English, that used the hashtag COVID-19. In addition, there was a sum of 1,400,000 tweets examined. Considering the extraordinary national public health emergency, the tweets revealed a general pattern toward optimism, with a strong tone of faith. Panic may have been the most prevalent negative emotion. Comfort and astonishment were generally the least recognized good emotions, whereas disdain and hostility had been the least to some degree negative emotions.
Mental Issues Arising
The unusual COVID-19 epidemic, along with enormous protective measures that have impacted the everyday hearts of countless, has caused chaos on the public's mental wellbeing, primarily by mandating forced confinement and restricting degree of freedom. The spreading outbreak has created a disordered society that has had a significant impact on society's mental state. The World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with different health organizations, has identified various emerging problems towards pandemic preparations and population control. This is particularly true in the case of the new omicron form, which itself is believed to be much more extremely contagious.
Still Connected
With the help of social media, it can create a sense of connection with family and friends through virtual engagement, making the connection of physical separation. Isolation, stress, and sadness are reduced as a result. We have relied on social media platforms to keep in touch with the people we are close to. This has been crucial in keeping people orderly during lockdowns and allowing numerous multinational organizations to continue working with their personnel through video conference sessions. Not only would we welcome these intriguing elements of social media throughout our homes and businesses, but healthcare facilities also encourage residents to use it to keep united with their relatives and the entire world in times of hardship.
Diving Into the Rabbit Hole
Throughout the time people spent in quarantine WHO did a study on how Different types of mental distress were linked to the rigorous quarantine precautions in place, leading to the conclusion that the procedures had created issues like anxiety attack, nervousness, and depression. Whenever the virus first came out and people were forced to go into quarantine, When contrasted to the pre-pandemic time, internet as well as social media consumption had reached record heights.
This is because in addition to offering a venue for users to voice their ideas and transmit data pertaining to the situation, social media likewise served as a foundation for people to express their worry towards the epidemic. People were also worried that they might contaminate others if they were around them. In addition, the levels of fear were also raised whenever people heard that there was a possibility of them dying because of the virus.
Trouble Teaching
During this time, schools were also forced to move to online learning, which caused some problems for instructors. This is because when online learning was implemented the usage of social media went up. Just based on personal experience, I know for a fact that teachers do not get 100% of their students' attention. Considering that teachers cannot fully see what students are doing, that means that they are going to go on their phone because they know they will not get caught.
Positives Coming out
However, there are some good things to come out of this social media usage during this time. On a positive note, it motivates people to utilize official government-endorsed preventative measures related to scientific data, like social distancing as well as antiseptic use. With the help of social media, people were actually taking precautions seriously and were not treating the pandemic as if it was no big deal. This was important for both the government and businesses to enforce it, because it caused things to, somewhat, go back to normal.
By enforcing these rules and regulations, people inherently began to panic buy due to the fact that they never knew when quarantine would be over. However, in a sense this was a good thing. Even though there were no products in the stores, it showed that people were willing to take matters into their own hands in order to make sure that they and their loved ones were taken care of. This is a positive aspect of social media that people do not seem to pay attention to; the fact that things were so enforced that everyone was willing to follow the rules benefited society in the long run.
Sources:
Iida, Takashi, et al. “The Bright and Dark Sides of Social Media Usage during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Evidence from Japan.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Elsevier, 7 Jan. 2021, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420920315363.
Kumar, Ashish, et al. “Covid-19 Pandemic: A Sentiment Analysis: A Short Review of the Emotional Effects Produced by Social Media Posts during This Global Crisis.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 17 July 2020, https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/41/39/3782/5873149?login=true.
Amor, Wail, et al. “Social Media Reinvented: Can Social Media Help Tackle the Post-Pandemic Mental Health Onslaught?” Cureus, 10 Jan. 2022, https://www.cureus.com/articles/80369-social-media-reinvented-can-social-media-help-tackle-the-post-pandemic-mental-health-onslaught.
Jogezai, Nazir Ahmed, et al. “Teachers' Attitudes towards Social Media (SM) Use in Online Learning amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Effects of SM Use by Teachers and Religious Scholars during Physical Distancing.” Heliyon, Elsevier, 16 Apr. 2021, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844021008847.
Marzouki, Yousri, et al. “Understanding the Buffering Effect of Social Media Use on Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 15 Feb. 2021, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-021-00724-x.
Some of my other work:
https://pursue-persuade.squarespace.com/home-1/mobile-habits
https://pursue-persuade.squarespace.com/home-1/tiktok-fyproblems
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ZAf6b8Zuve3rzXH-2F9OLrjlLM1TMEGUFMXU_tpGac/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P_QqZG64migUueUrr_jdpeuAtY8PMZAr0N_5w_B0uzI/edit?usp=sharing