User:Haipeng Li 888/Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social media

Article Draft

Lead

Because of the pandemic, people have to decrease their social activities to protect each other. Students also have to study online, and most students use social media as a new way to study. Researchers found the advantage of using social media to study and some disadvantages about this for students. Also, social media is very important for governments to spread information about COVID-19.

The emergence of COVID-19 calls for more attention to online psychological counselling, and the novel Coronavirus pandemic has also caused great difficulties in face-to-face communication.

Article body

This was the largest response measured against other responses such as education, keeping in touch with friends and family, and work which were 76%, 74%, and 67% respectively, and reflects the reliance on social media in critical aspects of people's lives during the pandemic.(original article)

UNESCO reported that the closure of academic institutes caused by the pandemic had affected 890 million students in 114 countries. Social media is indispensable for students during the pandemic. When people need to stay at home, using social media is the most effective way to work with others. Also, using social media for cooperation can also help students handle more techniques. For example, when students use social media to work with group members, they can understand how to communicate and collaborate with others. During the process, members can help each other and figure out problems of themselves.

Surprisingly, when misinformation spreads on social media, young people often find these false messages. From the WHO researches, researchers found that more than half (59.1%) of Gen Z and Millennials surveyed are “very aware” of “fake news” surrounding COVID-19 and can often spot it. This is not like people thought that young people might believe misinformation easily. However, on the other hand, many young people are affected by misinformation on social media. From the report by WHO, 35.1% of young people ignore misinformation on social media. So the challenge is not only to let people figure out what is misinformation, but also to recruit people to counter misinformation and fake news actively.

On the other hand, social media is very important for governments during the pandemic. The Chinese government uses social media to public scientific knowledge about COVID-19 and uses common language to help people understand it. Researchers find that if governments can use social media correctly, this way can decrease the panic of people and help society to remain stable. The government should take the initiative to guide the public in popular language on social media to reduce the spread of misinformation and help maintain social stability and reduce panic. Timely information is very important. People should also trust official information based on evidence.

Under the influence of the epidemic, students' psychological problems are more important. Many students study hard and have clear goals when they are in high school. However, once they enter college, some students will suddenly feel that they have lost their goals. Everyone's goal before they are young is to be admitted to a desired university, but when the goal is achieved, there will be a variety of maladjustment, confusion, or anxiety. The emergence of these negative emotions and psychological problems will gradually affect the normal study and life. Therefore, in the face of these psychological problems, it is necessary to formally own psychological problems and reduce the stigma. If you feel that you can't solve or adjust, you need to find professional psychological consultants or psychological teachers and psychological consultants in time. Psychological counseling is not only needed for serious psychiatric diseases, the purpose of psychological counseling is to timely take the interviewees out of the negative emotions, to help them re-understand their own process.

Given that the virus continues to erupt around the world, especially in China, affecting millions of people, it is necessary to assess and develop strategies to address the mental health and mental disorders caused by direct or indirect exposure to this situation. These strategies are targeted at the community or the whole population, and individuals with mental symptoms due to the actions taken by the government against the outbreak of coronavirus, viral infection and infection. In general, targeting the entire population or large communities is not beneficial, so priority should be given to individual based treatment.

The new covid-19 pneumonia epidemic has seriously affected the way people communicate with each other. Preventive measures to limit the spread of the virus require changes in communication patterns in greetings and handshakes. The situation requires people to adopt salutes that do not require physical contact, such as "peaceful gestures" and "hands on the chest". In addition, telecommunications has witnessed a significant increase in the emphasis on personal space and social distance as business meetings, conferences and educational activities move to virtual communication through social applications such as zoom, Cisco WebEx, Skype and Microsoft teams.