The Role of Social Media as an Information Source in Covid19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak was first diagnosed in late December 2019 in Wuhan at China's Hubei province. After four months, coronavirus infection has spread to 6 continents and 185 countries, with a dramatic increase of almost 3 million people have been infected and more than 200,000 people died.JHM As a result of the pandemic, the closure of borders, social isolation, and the crushing of health systems under an excessive load, peoples search different ways to achieve proper information regarding protecting themselves from this disaster including government announcements, hospitals, private doctors, and social media.

According to the data of February 2020, in Turkey with a population of 83.9 million, internet and social media usage percentage to population are 74% and 64% respectively. Social media is the most frequently translated way of informing due to its quick, cheap, and easy access potential.

Although previous researches have investigated the effect of social media on different medical situations, there is no study focused role of social media on patients' behavior and information source during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the present study, it is aimed to reveal the impact of social media on patients' attitudes and information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic.