Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social media
Social media became an active place to interact during the COVID-19 pandemic following the onset of social distancing. Overall messaging rates had risen up by above 50%, according to a study by Facebook's analytics department. Individuals at home used social media to maintain their relationships and access entertainment to pass time faster.[1]
However, there were some concerns about the use of social media as a primary means of social interaction, especially under such constrained circumstances.[2]
The pandemic affected the use of social media by the world's general population, celebrities, world leaders, and professionals. Social networking services were used to spread information and to find humor and distraction from the pandemic via internet memes.[3][4] However, social distancing forced lifestyle changes for many people, which put a strain on mental health.[1] Many online counseling services that use social media were created and promptly rose in popularity, as they could safely connect mental health workers with those who need them.[5] COVID-19 caused more attention to be given to online psychological counseling, and the COVID-19 pandemic also caused great difficulties in face-to-face communication.
COVID-19 is referred to in terms of social media misinformation as an infodemic. The direct access to content through platforms such as Twitter and YouTube makes users susceptible to rumors and questionable information. This information can strongly influence individual behaviors, limiting group cohesion and therefore the effectiveness of government countermeasures to the virus.[6] Additionally, platforms were used by politicians, political movements, and state and national level health organizations, to share information quickly and reach people.
Increase in usage[edit]
Messaging and video call services[edit]
Multiple social media websites reported a sharp increase in usage after social distancing measures were put into place. Since many people could not connect with their friends and family in person, social media became the main form of communication to maintain these connections. For example, Facebook's analytics department reported over 50 percent increase in overall messaging during the last month of March 2020.[1] WhatsApp had also reported a 40 percent increase in usage.[1] Moreover, there has been a noticeable increase in the use of Zoom since the start of the pandemic.[7] Global downloads for TikTok went up 5% in March 2020 compared to February.[8] A new service called Quarantine Chat which connected users randomly reported having over 15,000 users a month after its launch on 1 March 2020.[9]Zoom also followed a similar procedure to connect users.
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have all increased reliance on spam filters because staff members who moderate content were unable to work.[10]
Online counseling services[edit]
Particularly in countries where the virus had a greater impact, online mental health services received a surge in demand, as COVID-19 social distancing o
obstructed patients from meeting with therapists or psychologists in person. In China, medical staff has used social media programs like WeChat, Weibo, and TikTok to roll out online mental health education programs.[11] In Canada, the provincial government of Alberta launched a $53 million COVID-19 mental health response plan, which includes increasing accessibility to phone and online supports with existing helplines.[12] In taddition, he pCanadian rovince of Ontario,'s overnment has provided emergency funding of up to $12 million to expand online and virtual mental health supports.[13]
Use as entertainment[edit]
Many Internet memes have been created about the pandemic.[31][32][33] A popular Facebook group for young people (predominantly Generation Z) was "Zoom Memes for Self Quaranteens," playing on pun of the increase in Zoom usage and self-quarantining as teenagers, which had over 500,000 members as of April 2020.[34] The group shared memes they found or created about the pandemic, and served as entertainment for the hundreds of thousands of young people that had been forced to switch to online school, helping them pass the extra time and help cope with the situation.[35]
During the pandemic many challenges spread across social media, potentially to link individuals to one another and to bring entertainment of the individual's attempts. One such challenge was See10Do10, which involves the individual doing 10 push-ups and recreating it. Others included baby photos, dance challenges, and voting in candy and chocolate March Madness bracket voting.[36] Another instance, the V-pop hit "Ghen" by artists Erik and Men was remixed by lyricists Khắc Hưng and supported Vietnam's National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to create the song "Ghen Cô Vy."[37] The song encourages listeners to wash their hands and became viral when Vietnam dancer Quang Đăng posted a dance to the song on TikTok and started the #GhenCoVyChallenge.[38]
Teens have also started making TikTok videos sharing about their life in quarantine. Teens use this platform to make funny videos about life in lockdown to relate to other teens and keep them entertained. From January 2020 to March, TikTok saw a 48.3% increase in unique visitors.[39]
Makeup artists on YouTube have altered their videos to produce make-up looks that work around wearing a mask to prevent the spread of the pandemic.[40]
The Actors Fund, a charitable organization, posts a livestream of The Phantom of the Opera performance from London's Royal Albert Hall as a fundraiser for 48-hours in April.[41] The performance of Phoebe Waller-Bridges's stage performance of Fleabag was also used as a charity fundraiser and for entertainment.[42] Authors, musicians, actors, actresses and dancers put together many concerts, live streams of previous productions, readings, and productions that were live-streamed either for free, for an entrance fee or suggested charitable donation.[43][44]
Usage by celebrities[edit]
During the pandemic, many celebrities took to social media to interact with their fan bases and attempt to alleviate the situation through posts, acts of kindness or trends. Some have had posts swiftly condemned by the public, such as Gwyneth Paltrow who deleted an Instagram post about her designer fashion and Jared Leto who caused anger with his Twitter post about coming out of a 12-day silent meditation isolation in the desert.[78] Other celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Gal Gadot received kick back for their social media posts, after complaining about being stuck in her California mansion and gathering all of her celebrity friends to sing John Lennon's "Imagine" respectively.[79]
Other celebrities or their family members used social media to announce their positive diagnosis of the disease such as Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Idris Elba, and Daniel Dae Kim.[79] After recovering from the virus, actor Daniel Dae Kim used his social media to highlight the donation of his plasma, to a Vitalant blood donation center in hopes that his plasma contains active antibodies that could help others.[80] An Instagram post made by K-Pop Star Kim Jae-joong claiming that he had contracted the disease and was in the hospital receiving treatment, was later deleted and framed as an April Fools' Day Prank to raise awareness of the pandemic.[81]
Social media was used by celebrities to raise awareness for charitable action during the pandemic. Ansel Elgort posted an almost full front nude of himself on his Instagram page used the caption to post "OnlyFans LINK IN BIO" which directed fans to a GoFundMe created by actor Jeffrey Wright to feed frontline workers during the pandemic.[82]
Usage by world leaders[edit]
On 7 April 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump used Twitter and the #AmericaWorksTogether tag to spread awareness of companies that were helping to restrict the economic effects of the virus by hiring employees and providing health workers with supplies.[83]
Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the British royal family have used social media to post comments to the public. For example, comments from the Queen were posted on the royal family's Instagram account, and in the run-up to V-E Day, information based on the Queen's memories from a 1985 interview were shared on Instagram.[84] Multiple other family members participated in Zoom calls to nurses to celebrate International Nurses Day, which was later posted on their YouTube page.[85] Prince William and Catherine Middleton allowed for their Instagram account to be "taken over" for 24-hours by Shout85258, the UK's first 24/7 crisis text line that they launched with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2019.[86] The Dutch royal family used their Instagram account to share a video of King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and their teenage daughters clapping for first responders along with a small speech by the King.[87]
Censorship[edit]
In Turkey, more than 400 people were arrested for posting "provocative" messages about the pandemic on social media.[88] Chinese social media networks, such as WeChat have reportedly censored any term related to the pandemic since 31 December 2019, notably with Dr. Li Wenliang being censored by the Wuhan police for posting about the pandemic in a private group chat.[89] Doctors in China had been told by local authorities to delete posts on social media that appealed for the donation of medical supplies.[90]
NetBlocks, a civil society group working for digital rights, cyber-security, and Internet governance, reported Internet outages in Wuhan during the pandemic. They also reported that the Farsi version of Wikipedia was blocked for 24 hours in Iran. The VPN company Surfshark reported about a 50% drop-off of its network in Iran after the pandemic was declared on 13 March by the WHO.[89]