Media and Covid 19
Assignment Details
Nurses have to be knowledgeable consumers of information. Therefore, it is important to critically evaluate messages presented in the media and understand whose interests are being represented.
For this assignment, choose a healthcare issue and examine 2 different positions.
Complete the following:
1- PLEASE MAKE SURE THE PAPER IS CONSTRUCTED THIS WAY ,INTRODUCTION,BODY,CONLUSION PLEASE THANK YOU
2-PLEASE USE THE REFERENCES I HAVE UPLOADED ONLY,YOU CAN ADD YOUR OWN IT YOU USE CINAHIL OR PROQUEST SITE ONLY THANKS
3-Compare and contrast the coverage of the issue.
4-Consider who is reporting the issue and how is the issue being covered.
5-Was the message effective?
6-Was it accurate?
7-Support your paper with evidence from at least 5 recent scholarly articles or sources.
8-Write 5–7 pages, excluding the title and reference pages, following the APA Expectations document for the College of Nursing.
BUY A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE
Social Media and Covid-19
Technology has made the internet pervasive in America and the rest of the world, with social media now being well a national pastime. Today, social media tools, easy-to-use smartphones, and computers have empowered individuals in every age group anytime, anywhere. In the healthcare industry, the sector has quickly adopted the tech tools that the nurses and physicians utilize for personal and professional communication. Since its emergence, social media has become indispensable in today’s businesses. The different platforms have redefined how companies relate with customers, becoming the primary way healthcare providers and organizations interact with individual patients and the public as part of their marketing strategy. According to Pulido et al. (2020), people tend to buy from people or organizations they like, know and trust.
Despite its indispensable aspect, social medial media has become an issue of discussion regarding its impact on the healthcare industry. While on one side, it has been a significant revelation in building patient-physician relationships, the platform has been misused in some cases where misleading details have been shared, sending fear and panic among the public. The emergence has seen the Covid-19 pandemic has seen an increased use of social media, among other tech tools, to send, share and communicate in the health industry. Advancement in technology and heightened adoption of social media in the healthcare industry has created opportunities to keep people informed, connected and safe. Nevertheless, the same tools have fostered and amplified the current infodemic, which has continued to undermine global response to the Covid-19 pandemic hence jeopardizing strategies to contain and or control the pandemic. This paper discusses the use of social media during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Social media has become an essential medium of communication, becoming an everyday day’s interaction among people. This application has not been limited to individuals as organizations, governments, leaders, and states operate within the social media circle. The platforms have been used to address crises and institute damage control (Duncombe, 2019). Since its emergence, 60% of the media coverage has been on the pandemic. This has included both the traditional media outlets and the social media tools, which have ruled the interaction and communications between individuals and organizations. While one side the social media has been used for sharing vital information about the pandemic, the unfolding of the covid-19 has also demonstrated how social media can positively be utilized as well as sends or spread misinformation (Ali et al., 2020). The amplification of misinformation via social media has threatened public health and the virus itself.
BUY A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE
In terms of the use of social media during the pandemic, there have been both the positives and the vices. One side is that social media has been indispensable in contact tracing and helps educate people on do’s and don’ts regarding how to protect themselves and their families. On the other hand, social media platforms have been used to send or spread unverified news increasing face news among the people. The impact of fake news on social media has been a significant concern in healthcare as it has been known to cause panic and reduce and increase the effectiveness of health programs such as the campaign to control the Covid-19 pandemic (Pulido et al., 2020). It is evident that the use of social media during the Covid-19 Pandemic has had both effects; on one side, the tools greatly benefit addressing the issue, while on the other, social media has been a menace to the virus containment.
According to Ali et al. (2020), the Covis-19 pandemic has emerged as one of the most impacting healthcare crises in modern times. This has led to chaos within the industry key stakeholders to deliver quality care; control spread develops policies to address the issue while at the same time researching the best strategies to address the virus-related problems. One of the primary ways social media has been utilized during the pandemic is by collecting public health data. This has been done through the media as a research tool (Green et al., 2021). As an example of a social media platform, Facebook has proven a cost-efficient research strategy for collecting valuable and extensive scale data.
BUY A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE
Diverse agencies have utilized social media within the healthcare industry. Global health organizations, governments, healthcare professionals and experts, and healthcare organizations all utilize social media tools to address, inform, and educate the public on how to protect themselves from getting infected. For example, organizations such as WHO (World Health Organization) have utilized their Twitter handles and Facebook pages to keep public and relevant healthcare bodies well informed about the virus. Many other social media-based campaigns about the pandemic have frequently utilized credible sources such as government reports, ministry of health briefings and organizations such as WHO to validate their information about the virus.
One significant benefit of social media’s increased use during the pandemic is that more people have been reached. According to Altheide (2018), Facebook, among other social media platforms, has provided a cost-effective approach to recruiting and conducting web-based surveys. This trend has seen the participation of marginalized populations. This has enabled the relevant bodies and healthcare professionals to react to essential ideas or details received by the people. With people’s movement limited during the pandemic, there has been massive reliance on the internet and social media, mainly to keep in touch among people and healthcare professionals to understand the virus’s spread. The overall verdict on social media use during the pandemic cab was a success. Advertisement linked with the covid-19 pandemic was believed to reach more people through social media platforms as people sought to follow up on global trends regarding the pandemic.
The issue’s coverage can be regarded as significant, with its importance held high due to the seriousness of the viruses and the devastating impact on the global population. The social media tool was vital in ensuring the public was informed about the spread and what the government was doing to prevent further spread. Additionally, the public has demanded care and protection from the virus hence the utilization of social by healthcare experts to meet people’s needs, including mental, social and medical conditions. Healthcare professionals have been fighting to restore normality from the front against the virus. Social media provided the platform for seeking and delivering health information with the pandemic period seeing an increased number of people become consumers of health-related topics/information (Duncombe, 2019). Globally, the public has faced massive pressure, and the emergence of the pandemic has pushed people to more social media use.
Nevertheless, to counter misinformation, the public demanded correct health-related information and to remain connected to their friends, coworkers, family and peers. Social media users are sought to normality seeking significant informational support. More social media use during this period has resulted in increased information accessible to people. For example, more people have to adopt hand washing, face mask-wearing and practicing social media, which can be derived as a central drawing from covid-19 pandemic coming.
Government spokespersons, healthcare experts and global health players have been the primary sources of covid-19 related news and highlights. Nevertheless, despite the defined source of information, fake news has been rampant and circulating on social media platforms. Misinformation has been a severe threat to the efforts dedicated to fighting the virus spread as well as educating people on strategies to prevent themselves and their families. According to Green et al. (2021), adopting a centralized source of information about the pandemic has dramatically helped reduce the availability and spread of fake news concerning the virus. Messages shared on social media that contain actual or potential social impacts are not only transformative but also respectful. Frequent updates by government bodies such s as CDC has helped ensure people keep themselves aware of what is the correct information. On the other hand, social media has provided a prosperous path for information seeking and knowledge persuasion (Nelson et al., 2021). These social media roles have made it possible for both correct and face messages to be shared. While the right message transmitted has enlightened people, the misconceptions or fake news has caused nothing but panic among people.
BUY A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE
In conclusion, social media tools have become ever-present in healthcare today. The emergence of the covid-19 pandemic has also seen physicians’ increased use of social media platforms to reach their customers while educating them on do’s and don’ts about the virus. It can be said that the use of social media during the pandemic has seen both benefits and limitations. It has fostered public education and monitoring regarding virus spread. However, the existence of fake news has downplayed the effectiveness of social media in the health industry, more so during the Covid pandemic. HealthCare professionals need to be knowledgeable consumers of social media information, hence being undeniably critical to evaluate messages and information shared to ensure the intended objectives are well addressed and precisely.
References
Ali, S. H., Foreman, J., Capasso, A., Jones, A. M., Tozan, Y., & DiClemente, R. J. (2020). Social media as a recruitment platform for a nationwide online survey of COVID-19 knowledge, beliefs, and practices in the United States: methodology and feasibility analysis. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-020-01011-0
Altheide, D. L. (2018). Creating Fear: News and the Construction of Crisis (Social Problems and Social Issues) (1st Ed.). Routledge.
Duncombe, C. (2019). The Politics of Twitter: Emotions and the Power of Social Media. International Political Sociology, 13(4), 409–429. https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olz013
Green, H., Fernandez, R., & MacPhail, C. (2021). Social Media as a Platform for Recruitment to a National Survey during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Feasibility Analysis (Preprint). JMIR Formative Research. https://doi.org/10.2196/28656
Nelson, M. R., Ham, C. D., Haley, E., & Chung, U. C. (2021). How Political Interest and Gender Influence Persuasion Knowledge, Political Information Seeking, and Support for Regulation of Political Advertising in Social Media. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 21(3), 225–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2021.1978352
Pulido, C., Ruiz-Eugenio, L., Redondo-Sama, G., & Villarejo-Carballido, B. (2020). A New Application of Social Impact in Social Media for Overcoming Fake News in Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7), 2430. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17072430