Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Health Sciences

.: ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The Role of Social Media as an Information Source in COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 Pandemisinde Bilgi Kaynağı Olarak Sosyal Medyanın Rolü
Bahar YÜKSELa, Ömer SARILARb, Mehmet Hamza GÜLTEKİNb, Ufuk ÇAĞLARb, Mücahit GELMİŞb, Faruk ÖZGÖRb
aDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Esenler Maternity and Children's Hospital, İstanbul, TURKEY
bClinic of Urology, Haseki Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, TURKEY
Turkiye Klinikleri J Health Sci. 2021;6(3):592-7
doi: 10.5336/healthsci.2020-77283
Article Language: EN
Full Text
ABSTRACT
 Objective: To reveal the role of social media as an information source during coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Material and Methods: The present study is planned as a cross-sectional, multi-center survey study starting from the first week of COVID-19 pandemic. A custom-made survey was prepared, eliciting participants' demographic data, preferred source of the information about COVID-19 disease, and their preference for usual social media platforms and the type of posts. The survey also aimed to determine how the use of social media changed the daily behavior of participants. Results: In total, 107 women, 105 men with a mean age of 33.3±10.3 were included in the study. Social media, television, and web sites were the most preferred sources of information about COVID-19 (76.4%, 54.7%, and 53.3% respectively). Before the pandemic era, participants used social media as an information tool for COVID-19 an average of 2.6 times a week, increasing to 7.8 times during the pandemic (p<0.001). The average screen time in social media searches for COVID-19 increased from 22 minutes to 117 minutes after the onset of the pandemic (p<0.001). The most frequently accessed social media posts were videos from doctors specialized in the pandemic, and the experience of COVID-19 survivors (61.8% and 38.2%, respectively). Conclusion: The present study has demonstrated that social media was the most preferable source to get information about COVID-19 pandemic. While the video shares were the most watched contents, the participants expressed that they wanted to watch the videos coming from the doctors the most.

Keywords: Coronavirus; COVID-19; resource guide; pandemics; social media
ÖZET
 Amaç: Çalışmanın amacı, koronavirüs hastalığı-2019 [coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)] salgını sırasında sosyal medyanın, katılımcıların bilgi kaynağı olarak rolünü ortaya koymaktır. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Bu çalışma, COVID-19 salgınının ilk haftasından başlayarak kesitsel, çok-merkezli bir anket çalışması olarak planlanmıştır. Katılımcıların demografik verileri, COVID-19 hakkında bilgi kaynağı tercihleri, sosyal medya platformları kullanım alışkanlıkları ve hangi tür yayınları tercih ettiklerinin değerlendirilmesi için özel bir anket hazırlandı. Anket ile ayrıca sosyal medya kullanımının, katılımcıların günlük davranışlarını nasıl değiştirdiğini belirlemek amaçlandı. Bulgular: Ortalama yaşları 33,3±10,3 olan 107 kadın ve 105 erkek çalışmaya dâhil edildi. Sosyal medya, televizyon ve internet siteleri, COVID-19 hakkında en çok tercih edilen bilgi kaynaklarıydı (sırasıyla %76,4; %54,7 ve %53,3). Pandemi döneminden önce katılımcılar, sosyal medyayı COVID-19 hakkında bilgi almak için haftada ortalama 2,6 kez kullanmakta olup, pandemi sırasında ise bu sayı artarak 7,8'e yükselmiştir (p<0,001). Aynı doğrultuda, sosyal medyada COVID-19 nedeni ile geçirilen sürenin, pandeminin başlangıcından itibaren 22 dk'dan 117 dk'ya yükseldi gözlemlendi (p<0,001). En sık erişilen sosyal medya yayınları, pandemi konusunda uzmanlaşmış doktorların videoları ve COVID-19 mağdurlarının deneyimi olarak görüldü (sırasıyla %61,8 ve %38,2). Sonuç: Bu çalışma, COVID-19 salgını hakkında bilgi almak için sosyal medyanın en çok tercih edilen kaynak olduğunu göstermiştir. Video paylaşımları, en çok izlenen içerik görülmekte iken, doktorlardan gelen videoların en çok izlemek istenilen içerik olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Koronavirüs; COVID-19; kaynak kılavuzu; pandemi; sosyal medya
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30.03.2014

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