role of media in pandemic situation(essay of minimum 2 pages)
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Answer:
During the world discovered that social media is a great way for individuals and communities to stay connected even while physically separated.
During the 1918 flu pandemic, which the CDC estimates infected a third of the world’s population, people didn’t have the same sources of communication we now have in the 21st century to quickly share news and information. For context, a public health report on Minneapolis’s response to the 1918 flu shows that critical information regarding the virus was primarily shared via postal workers, Boy Scouts, and teachers. Can you imagine learning about a pandemic from a Boy Scout knocking on your door, encouraging you to wash your hands?
With the advent of social media in the 21st century, not only are we learning the latest news updates, but we’re also using platforms like Facebook and Twitter to provide personal and business updates. For businesses, this means leveraging social media to support employees and customers like never before. For the government, it means doing its best to efficiently share factual and up-to-date information.
Khoros | Strategic Services
Taking a look at how individuals, businesses, and government agencies used social media to share information and interact with others throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, here are four primary roles of social media during a pandemic:
1. A source of information (and misinformation)
COVID-19 marked the first global pandemic in the age of social media. Governments and brands used social media to provide people with a better understanding of events and their impacts.Unfortunately, some people used social media to spread falsehoods, including miracle preventative measures, false claims about the implementation of martial law, conspiracy theories, and more.
Finding trusted sources of information regarding was challenging.
At the beginning of the pandemic, people were grappling for as much information as possible and the public became more susceptible to false and sometimes hazardous claims, which were then passed on to others. According to a PEW Research Center report that came out near the beginning of America’s lockdown, about half of Americans said they’ve seen made-up news about
Distinguishing between trustworthy and untrustworthy sources on social media became more important than ever
During a pandemic, the best rule of thumb for making sure information on social media is accurate is to check original sources and make sure that (a) those sources are indeed trustworthy, and (b) the information was relayed accurately. Just because someone claims to have learned something from a reliable source doesn’t mean they’re relaying that information accurately.
If you’re the one presenting information on social media, whether on behalf of a business or your personal account, it’s your responsibility to cite and fact-check your own sources. Be wary of using verbiage that is alarmist or absolute to prevent spreading misinformation and creating a panic on social media during a pandemic.
2. An influence on public response to the outbreak
Billions of people are free to publicly share their opinions regarding a pandemic through various social media platforms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw individuals, organizations, and businesses use social media to spread awareness of the virus, as well as the public actions that can be taken.
Here are a few of the most distinct ways social media influenced the public throughout the COVID-19 pandemic:
Social distancing and home quarantine became trends
Until COVID-19, many of us hadn’t even heard of “social distancing,” which refers to staying at least 6 feet away from others to help prevent the spread of infection. Soon after the world went into lockdown, social media users, from friends and family to celebrities and governments called for social distancing and encouraged people to stay strong during their home quarantines. One of the benefits of social media during a pandemic is that it enables this type of helpful and supportive information to easily be shared to a wide audience.
Many brands and organizations also came up with fun ways to engage with people on social media, such as the Getty Museum asking people to recreate works of art using items found in their homes.
Getty Museum challenge
Quarantine culture became trendy, as society went from dealing with the lockdown to embracing it. The impact of social media on culture was never more profound than it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. It helped people stay in touch and changed the ways brands interacted with consumers.
People boasted and shamed panic buying
At the start of the lockdown, many people excessively purchased household goods, sanitization products, and food in fear that necessities would no longer be accessible — just like they do when there is a hurricane or some other natural disaster. This over-purchasing became so commonplace that social media users coined a phrase to describe it: panic buying.
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