Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2020;75:e1953.
Social media: friend or foe in the COVID-19 pandemic?
Diego Laurentino Lima
, Maria Antonieta Albanez A. de Medeiros Lopes
, Ana Maria Brito
DOI: 10.6061/clinics/2020/e1953
During the 1918-19 “Spanish” influenza pandemic, people did not have the same sources of communication we now have in the 21st century to quickly share news and information. Social historians have argued that the reason the 1918-19 pandemic left so few traces in public memory is that it was overshadowed by the First World War; hence its historiographical characterization as the ”forgotten pandemic” due to the crucial role played by wartime propaganda (). For context, a public health report on response to that pandemic in the city of Minneapolis showed that critical information about the virus was spread primarily via postal workers, Boy Scouts, and teachers ().
With the advent of social media in the 21st century, we are not only learning the latest news but also using platforms like Facebook and Twitter to provide personal and business updates. For businesses, this means leveraging social media to support employees and customers like never before. For the government, it means doing its best to efficiently share factual and up-to-date information ().
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