The Pandemic of Social Media Panic: Dissemination of Misinformation and Infodemic
During this lockdown, individuals started spending a lot of time on social media, which has become a major part of many young people’s lives nowadays. Most individuals use social media, whether for good or ill, without considering the long-term consequences. In only a few minutes, “breaking news” items on Twitter and Facebook may garner hundreds of thousands of retweets and share from people all over the world (Cinelli et al., 2020). Although, media consumption can help ease loneliness and anxiousness, it harms mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic because it causes panic transmission, is a source of misinformation and is overwhelming information. Thus, the main aim of the paper is to highlight upon the factors that how media consumption triggers psychological stress during the covid 19 pandemic. For this purpose, the paper will analyse three existing literatures related to media consumption and the psychological impact of individual during the pandemic.
The first article entitled The pandemic of social media panic travels faster than the COVID-19 outbreak by Depoux et al (2021) deals with the fake news, conspiracy theories and misleading rumours which was disseminated through social media has exacerbated the fear among people. This misinformation, or ‘infodemic,’ has not only caused fear and terror among the public, but it has also promoted racism and discrimination over the world (Eysenbach, 2020). Chinese restaurants, Chinese visitors, Asian commodities, etc., have sparked widespread suspicion and racial outbursts during the pandemic. Viral racism has already claimed its first victims among those who appear Chinese but have never visited China. The article emphasises that during the epidemic, when little is known about the virus, social media should have been utilised to disseminate critical information and public health issues (Depoux et al., 2020). In order to better mobilise the public and local communities to adhere to quarantine protocols, social media intelligence should have been used to reduce the spread of fear and uncertainty and increase public confidence in public health efforts. But unfortunately, social media was used to spread falsehoods, disinformation, and rumours which spread rapidly than that of the virus itself, causing harm to people’s health and harming their emotional well-being. As a result, the pandemic response is hindered by disinformation that promotes confusion and spreads panic. The article emphasised that to combat the spread of disinformation, a social media toolbox should be offered to address and improve frameworks for responding to future worldwide epidemics (Depoux., 2020). In accordance with public health policies, people may be able to make better decisions and act more confidently with the support of a toolkit. For instance, an official WHO myth buster’s portal has been developed to dispel myths regarding the COVID-19 epidemic. Information is the only weapon that can combat mass hysteria and stop misinformation affecting people psychological health.
The second article, titled ‘Social Media Use and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Moderator Role of Disaster Stressor and Mediator Role of Negative Affect’ by Zhau & Zhou (2020), aims to look into the links between COVID-19-related social media use and mental health outcomes, as well as the potential mechanisms that underpin them. The article emphasised that while traditional media has played an important role in disseminating important information related to the pandemic. On the other side, social media has aided in the quick dissemination of false information and rumours, which has the potential to frighten and confuse members of the public. Researchers conducted an online survey of 512 Chinese college students to get quantitative data on the impact of misinformation spread through social media and the resulting influence on students’ mental health. Social media usage, The COVID19 stress factor, serious health hazard, secondary trauma stress (STS), depression, and anxiety, as well as confounders, were all evaluated (Zhao & Zhou, 2020). Using the COVID-19 stressor and social media use, researchers observed a substantial correlation between COVID-19 and depression. Researchers also discovered that those who spent more time on social media had higher rates of depression. When the COVID-19 stressor was at a low level, however, there was no correlation between social media use and depression. Excessive social media exposure to this public health risk may lead to higher acute stress and long-term psychological distress. Even more unexpected, the findings suggest that while social media use is connected to sorrow and anxiety, other forms of conventional media had no influence (Zhao & Zhou, 2020). In the general population, social media use has been related to greater incidence of stress, depression, and other psychological disorders. These positive relationship between social media and psychological issues is resultant of a number of factors. For example, owing to a process of sorrow rumination, frequent exposure to distressing news about COVID-19 puts people at risk of depression. Rumours are common on social media because users may freely share information that isn’t censored by the media, making it easier for them to spread. Social media rumours about the coronavirus might heighten negative feelings (e.g., dread, panic, and distress), which may in turn lead to an increased risk of developing anxiety disorders. The research also found that the lockdown and the use of Covid 19 led to an increase in the use of social media by people and students, which can lead to an increased risk of mental health problems. There is some evidence to show that catastrophic stressors may increase the negative effects of social media use on mental health, particularly depression. A negative reaction to disasters on social media may lead to mental health issues as a result of overexposure. In the future, mental health therapies should take into account catastrophe stressors as well as negative affect.
Social Media Use and Mental Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic
The third article by Venegas-Vera, Colbertn & Lerma (2020) about the Positive and negative impact of social media in the COVID-19 era focus on the role of social media and its impact on individual mental and psychological wellbeing. Even for health care professionals, the paper stated that various routes of knowledge transfer via social media might lead to cognitive overload, confusion, and an increased risk of inaccuracy. A persistent threat to public health is posed by the ease with which false information and conspiracies may be spread via social media. Furthermore, it was pointed out in the paper that the unanticipated rush to publish in medical journals, with inadequately vetted primary data and plagiarism, also contributes to the spread of misinformation. SARS-CoV-2 myocarditis has been linked to cardiac dysfunction, leading to widespread concern about the risk of myocardial damage on social media (Venegas-Vera, Colbert & Lerma, 2020). A persistent threat to public health is posed by the ease with which false information may be disseminated via social media and traditional media. Social media users have a responsibility to provide reliable information during this moment of uncertainty, yet frequent disinformation has resulted in panic and worry among the general public. The paper suggests that strict regulation be employed to limit or control false news and social media, as it has a harmful impact on both individuals and health care professionals. Despite the fact that fact-checks are a reliable means of detecting timely falsehoods, fact-checkers cannot address every falsehood, and their professional job inevitably entails numerous selection biases since they spend precious resources on specific falsehood types (Venegas-Vera, Colbert & Lerma, 2020). Thus, it was recommended that health care experts and social media platforms must work together to create a viable mechanism through which misinformation about the pandemic can be eliminated. Using social media, the scientific community can share the most essential discoveries of an illness in a timelier manner, allowing other healthcare practitioners to learn about the results more quickly (HCPs). This is critical during a moment of uncertainty and the potential for fake news to spread (Venegas-Vera, Colbert & Lerma, 2020). But at the same time social media must be able to better comprehend the flow of information between stakeholders and safeguard individuals from dangerous content connected to the pandemic in order to prevent the spread of disinformation. For the pandemic’s obstacles to be solved, it is imperative that scientific discoveries be communicated in an impartial and thoughtful manner.
At the conclusion, it is important to note that as a result of the pandemic-related lockdown, individuals, particularly adolescents and students, have transferred their information consumption to the internet. Although this has helped to alleviate loneliness and anxiety, it is detrimental to mental health during the Covid-19 outbreak because it spreads panic, is a source of disinformation, and overwhelms people with information. All channels of communication centre on the virus, making mental health a critical consideration during this lockdown. Some challenges have arisen as a result of the pandemic and social isolation as a means of protecting one’s health and reducing one’s risk of infection. Daily routine disruption, worry, concern, isolation, increased stress at home and at work, and excessive screen time can all have a detrimental influence on health, well-being, and sleep. The three-article discussed above also suggested that because social media does not have filter or severe fact checking mechanism various fake news and disinformation are been spread widely. These has not only resultant in panic, anxiety and other psychological issues but it has also led to racism, discrimination and isolation.
References
Cinelli, M., Quattrociocchi, W., Galeazzi, A., Valensise, C. M., Brugnoli, E., Schmidt, A. L., … & Scala, A. (2020). The COVID-19 social media infodemic. Scientific reports, 10(1), 1-10.
Depoux, A., Martin, S., Karafillakis, E., Preet, R., Wilder-Smith, A., & Larson, H. (2020). The pandemic of social media panic travels faster than the COVID-19 outbreak. Journal of travel medicine, 27(3), taaa031.
Eysenbach, G. (2020). How to fight an infodemic: the four pillars of infodemic management. Journal of medical Internet research, 22(6), e21820.
Venegas-Vera, A. V., Colbert, G. B., & Lerma, E. V. (2020). Positive and negative impact of social media in the COVID-19 era. Reviews in cardiovascular medicine, 21(4).
Zhao, N., & Zhou, G. (2020). Social media use and mental health during the COVID?19 pandemic: Moderator role of disaster stressor and mediator role of negative affect. Applied Psychology: Health and Well?Being, 12(4), 1019-1038.
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