Dataset Information

The bright and dark sides of social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic: Survey evidence from Japan.

ABSTRACT: The spread of misinformation on the internet regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, such as unproven or fake cures, has been a serious concern. However, the extent to which social media usage affects individuals' health behavior, particularly when reliable information is scarce, is not well understood. This study evaluates the impact of social media usage on individuals' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as demand for necessities and social distancing. We conduct an original online survey of 1804 Japanese respondents in March 2020. Japan is suitable because it confirmed COVID-19 cases earlier than most other countries. Scientific evidence about the coronavirus and protective measures was scarce in the initial pandemic phase, despite the spread of unconfirmed rumors. Our analysis focuses on the usage of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We use the entropy balancing method to control for heterogeneity in observed characteristics between social media users and non-users. The results show that while users are more likely to maintain social distancing practices, they are also more likely to take measures whose reliability is not scientifically confirmed, such as eating fermented soybeans. Although previous studies emphasize the negative effects of social media, our results suggest that it has both bright and dark sides.

SUBMITTER: Cato S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9766757 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The bright and dark sides of social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic: Survey evidence from Japan.

Cato Susumu S Iida Takashi T Ishida Kenji K Ito Asei A Katsumata Hiroto H McElwain Kenneth Mori KM Shoji Masahiro M

International journal of disaster risk reduction : IJDRR 20210107

The spread of misinformation on the internet regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, such as unproven or fake cures, has been a serious concern. However, the extent to which social media usage affects individuals' health behavior, particularly when reliable information is scarce, is not well understood. This study evaluates the impact of social media usage on individuals' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as demand for necessities and social distancing. We conduct an original online survey of 18 ...[more]

PMID: 36570032

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundSocial media have become the source of choice for many users to search for health information on COVID-19 despite possible detrimental consequences. Several studies have analyzed the association between health information-searching behavior and mental health. Some of these studies examined users' intentions in searching health information on social media and the impact of social media use on mental health in Indonesia.ObjectiveThis study investigates both active and passive participation in social media, shedding light on cofounding effects from these different forms of engagement. In addition, this study analyses the role of trust in social media platforms and its effect on public health outcomes. Thus, the purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of social media usage on COVID-19 protective behavior in Indonesia. The most commonly used social media platforms are Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter.MethodsWe used primary data from an online survey. We processed 414 answers to a structured questionnaire to evaluate the relationship between these users' active and passive participation in social media, trust in social media, anxiety, self-efficacy, and protective behavior to COVID-19. We modeled the data using partial least square structural equation modeling.ResultsThis study reveals that social media trust is a crucial antecedent, where trust in social media is positively associated with active contribution and passive consumption of COVID-19 content in social media, users' anxiety, self-efficacy, and protective behavior. This study found that active contribution of content related to COVID-19 on social media is positively correlated with anxiety, while passive participation increases self-efficacy and, in turn, protective behavior. This study also found that active participation is associated with negative health outcomes, while passive participation has the opposite effects. The results of this study can potentially be used for other infectious diseases, for example, dengue fever and diseases that can be transmitted through the air and have handling protocols similar to that of COVID-19.ConclusionsPublic health campaigns can use social media for health promotion. Public health campaigns should post positive messages and distil the received information parsimoniously to avoid unnecessary and possibly counterproductive increased anxiety of the users.

Dataset Information

The bright and dark sides of social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic: Survey evidence from Japan.

Publications

The bright and dark sides of social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic: Survey evidence from Japan.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets