Acad Emerg Med Information and Disinformation: Social Media in the COVID-19 Crisis

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Acad Emerg Med


. 2020 May 31.
doi: 10.1111/acem.14036. Online ahead of print.
Information and Disinformation: Social Media in the COVID-19 Crisis


Michael Gottlieb ¹ , Sean Dyer ²



Affiliations

• PMID: 32474977
• DOI: 10.1111/acem.14036

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic with over 4.7 million cases and 316,000 deaths worldwide.¹ Social media, defined as "electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content,"² has played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, social media usage amongst the public has previously been demonstrated to significantly increase in cases of natural disasters and crises.³ However, it is important to consider the benefits and limitations of this medium.