The Era of Antisocial Social Media

Sophee Sanderson @socialsophee

I was a sophomore in college with the Coronavirus first hit the United States. I was anxious, fearful, confused and overwhelmed. It was quickly starting to feel very real and scary when cases were popping up in Louisiana. Suddenly, all of my friends and I were being separated from each other and forced to move home. The excitement of all the spring activities and fun we had planned were abruptly taken away from us.

Going from living with your best friends to being forced to move back in with your parents can be a tough adjustment. It felt like all the freedom and fun was being taken away from us, and most importantly we couldn't even hang out with each other anymore. Sure, we kept contact through texting and FaceTiming, but we were still lacking connection and relationships did not feel as close and comfortable as they were. 

The Covid-19 pandemic obviously had a direct effect on society as a whole. With new health mandates put in place, we had to practice social distancing and isolation from others. While there were plenty of benefits that came with these health measures, there were also a lot of damaging impacts as well.

Apart from the overwhelming amount of information being given to us about people dying and the unknown of the virus, being forced to social distance and stay inside created feelings of loneliness and for a lot of people, their mental health plummeted.

So, how did people manage to uphold their relationships with people and maintain sanity during a global pandemic?

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok have played a strong role in the pandemic by carrying on connections with friends and family while remaining isolated. The Lancet published an article that emphasized social media's function in sustaining relationships on and offline. 

"Because of strict physical distancing measures, people are heavily reliant on maintaining connectivity using global digital social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter, to facilitate human interaction and information sharing about the virus."

Aside from using these sites to connect with friends and check in on family members, people also used them to stay up to date on public health information. However, the spread of misinformation on social media had negative effects on the dissemination of accurate health information. 

According to a study published by the Journal of Medical Internet Research, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have presented unique challenges for public health officials and health care providers.

With the wide spread of misinformation and disinformation, social media spread uncredited information and false health news like wildfire. People were overwhelmed with information overload and conspiracy theories started to take the spotlight from real facts. 

At the end of the day, misinformation will still continue to spread online, but there are measures that can be taken to spot fake news and to stop the dissemination of false health information on social media outlets.

While not everything that happens on social media is positive, there is no denying that it lended a helping hand in keeping us connected. Human interactions are extremely important in feeling connected and upholding sanity. Having a strong support system can help individuals to overcome obstacles more easily and to simply uphold a state of mental well-being and social media can be extremely beneficial for fulfilling these needs. 

Next time you get online and are reminded of all the negative effects that social media has, remember that it is what kept us connected during the hardest parts of the pandemic.