INFODEMIC COVID-19: THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFODEMIC ON PEOPLE’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Coronavirus is the most perilous pandemic of 21st Century till now. It has spread overall bringing about loss of lives and loss of world economy. WHO (World Wellbeing Association) on its official site shared Coronavirus update which demonstrated 8.7 million cases had been enlisted till 21st June 2020 and it brought about 461715 losses all through the world. Lamentably Pakistan remained among top influenced nations. Numerous Pakistani were not paying attention to it. They didn’t follow the SOPs (Standard Working Methods) implemented by the Public authority of Pakistan. Online media infodemic was one of the other reasons influencing individuals' disposition towards Coronavirus. Government spent a lot in publicizing the insurances of this pandemic however individuals' non-serious disposition towards this perilous infection barred the strategies of government bringing about extraordinary number of cases and setbacks in Pakistan. This is a descriptive research and the method of this investigation is a survey study which incorporates sample size having 274 respondents. Data was gathered through an online survey in the form of questionnaire sent through WhatsApp   and Facebook. Findings of the research propose that online media infodemic fundamentally influenced the behavior of the individuals. The findings additionally brought to light that Pakistani individuals believed in irrational and invented circulated through untrustworthy sources. Expanding confidence in counter-intuitive and created coursed through inconsistent sources. This paper would demonstrate a milestone for other researchers to work in this field of studying factors influencing people’s behavior and help the government authorities in formulating policies in future remembering the effects internet-based social media and infodemic. Interlinking strategies with infodemic, government may improve results. Obliviousness of infodemic on social media with respect to a particular issue and not dismissing all unreliable and created stories by resounding from authentic information offices may spoil all the demanding results.