The Positive and Negative Impact of Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Brief Review

During the last decade, social media have affected people’s lives in an unprecedented way, today, different parts of people’s lives, from shopping to education, business, and electronic messages, are influenced by these media. In fact, social media have become an integral part of human life today, and in recent years this dependence has become even greater than before. Because following the spread of the COVID-19, people used social media more to work and study, to keep in touch with their loved ones, and to get information about Covid-19. The present study aimed to determine the positive and negative impact of social media in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The present study was a brief review designed. From 01 to 10 January 2022, the researchers of this study examined 6 international databases: Medline/PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and ISI Web of Science. After reviewing the titles and abstracts of the articles, 46 articles entered the next stage, in which the full text of the articles was reviewed.

Social media provides a space where health information is easily accessible to everyone. This capability is very efficient in global emergencies such as the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic so the use of social networks during the Covid-19 pandemic has increased significantly compared to previous data. In today’s world, social media has become a new field in business and marketing. With the involvement of social media in many aspects of life, we see its significant impact on various aspects of business, from brand development to guaranteeing buyer’s trust. 

Today, the role of social media in social communication, health, economy and other cultural fields is undeniable. However, it is important to consider the negative effects of these media. It seems that it is necessary that social media users be given the principal training before and during their use so that they do not become victims of its undesirable and unconscious effects.