Social Media during Crisis: Special reference to Covid-19

Abstract

Among various new trends changing life globally, social media is among the top rankers. It has affected our lives largely and has huge potential to generate awareness during crisis periods. The role of social media during Covid-19 has been multifunctional from disseminating Covid-19 related awareness to acting as a prime source of entertainment during a depressing environment of social isolation and lockdown. The paper discusses recent advancement in the role of social media during crisis situations with reference to Covid-19. The paper also talks about the need of regulations to keep control on fake and unauthentic contents floated on social media platforms. The study attempts to assess if social media was able to build a positive environment during crisis and also if there was any deviation observed on the kinds of messages circulated on social media platforms during crisis periods from those during normal times. The study, further throws some light on the necessity of social media to broaden its horizon and reach more people. The findings of the article can be used by multiple organizations, social media companies, government agencies and scholars to assimilate the social media users’ views and to further extend the research on multiple fields such as policy development on crisis management, data surveillance, regulations and the community behavior.