On December 12th, 2019, a hospital in Wuhan, China discovered its first case of unusual pneumonia. Entirely unaware that this single case would soon transform into a worldwide pandemic causing the people of the public to panic and the social media world to rapidly react. The World Health Organization (WHO) which was made aware of the situation four weeks after the matter, is using the social media platform Twitter to share information with the public to reduce concern, public anxiety, and panic while ending confusion to any given misinformation by the media to the public in regards to the new Coronavirus. The biggest challenge is the large sum and variety of information provided by sources with the lack of verification that feeds concern to the public. The verification of a reliable organization or source like WHO is very crucial during a time of panic and concern as the volume of information being spread online is not quite accurate or truthful causing confusion to the public eye. This paper will demonstrate the how WHO is sharing information using twitter to defeat the manipulative and false information in the online world to help the public and influence them to take the proper precautions in preventing the spread of coronavirus as the easy circulation (social media) of shared communications has helped build well-coordinated social groups with a strong sense of shared identity (Brown, Duguid, 1996). As well as putting an end to false and unverified information.
As the disease turns into an unquestionable wellbeing crisis, different theories concerning the origins of how it started have surfaced the web, one that caught the attention of the public was that the disease was misleadingly made in a lab by a government with an agenda. This misinformation started on social media and was spread by locals who believed the unreliable and unknown author with no confirmation to support their belief. Posts like this have reached millions of people, and the theories continue getting following on the web, paying little attention to scientists from various nations stating that the disease originated in nature from animal sources (Mian, Khan, 2020). Such misinformation can gain a lot of attention on social media and a major influence on consumers. All media – in and of themselves and regardless of the messages they communicate – exert a compelling influence on man and society (McLuhan, 1969). Moreover, in aid to increase the knowledge regarding the public health’s current enemy, the WHO takes a major step to advocate people not only on social media but also through it. On March 27th, 2020 the World Health Organization tweeted “Join #OpenWHO: the free, open-access learning platform for health emergencies. Learn from public health experts about topics including #covid19, risk communication, #ebola, infection prevention & much more. Almost 1 million enrolments, join us today” (World Health Organization, 2020). After seeing the web surfacing with false and misleading information regarding the spread and dangers of coronavirus, WHO used twitter to its advantage to get its message across. Not only did they advocate on social media, but they also created an online course on matter itself to help people consume the right information, from the right source.
Information circulating the social media world can be of help to the public as it educated them on the dangers of coronavirus, but what if the information they are reading is false and only causes a setback in the progressive fight to put an end to the disease altogether? The newly discovered coronavirus is described by the media as “deadly” although it is not false that disease is deadly but such exaggeration when the percentage of fatality is as low as 3% does not compare to the previous disease that has had over 10% rate of a fatality such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARs) (McCloskey, Heymann, 2020). Such information like this could drive panic and concern to the public without taking thought to consider preventative measures. It could spread false information rather the focus on educating the public with preventative measures to stop the spread of the disease. While the disease is deadly, it is mainly a major concern for people over the age of 60 as it makes it difficult to breathe, someone in their 20s reading this on twitter could think right away that there is a high chance of them dying if they are infected. Having information like this online creates a community of people educated falsely and following the wrong unverified sources. People could end up telling a friend or family member about the new “important piece of information” they discovered the night before on the web in regards to coronavirus. All of this is due to the easy access to the web. The easy access of shared information could be deadly as a random person sitting his computer on one side of the world could share something online that could be picked up by someone else across the Atlantic Ocean as well as people in the same demographic as the author. The reach of the internet is increasing a sense of simultaneity as ideas emerging on one side of the world can almost instantaneously be picked up through the internet and absorbed into local content by communities on the other side. (Brown, Duguid, 1996)
As worrying individuals across the globe start their coronavirus research in efforts to reduce the risk of being infected. Social media, Twitter, in particular, has been the main information hub for most residence around the world. Here, the internet is a particularly powerful medium for providing access to the same thing for people more widely dispersed than ever before (Brown, Duguid, 1996). In efforts to reduce the increase of people transmitting the disease to one another, the WHO, which is a reliable and verified source to consume information regarding the prevention of coronavirus from, has made an exceptional effort to advocate people on the prevention methods and dangers of the disease. As I once used to think that coronavirus is airborne and can be transmitted through the air of where someone who was infected had been around, was embarrassed and shocked to see that my belief which I was deeply advocating people about was entirely wrong when WHO tweeted on March 28th “#COVID19 is NOT Airborne. The #coronavirus is mainly transmitted through the droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks” shortly before following up on the same tweet on how to prevent the transmission of the disease “to protect yourself: keep 1m distance from others, disinfect surfaces frequently, wash/rub your (hands emoji), and avoid touching your [(eyes, nose, mouth) emoji]” (World Health Organization, 2020) In one simple tweet, the WHO was able to put an end to a false and misguided piece of information that had caused a public panic both by the person who started this rumour and the word of mouth I had been advocating the public, and advocated on the prevention of the transmission of the virus. Another very popular myth — which I also believed for a while — was a simple test anyone can do at any time of the day that involves holding one’s breath for 10 seconds to detect any discomfort. If one was unable to go through 10 seconds of holding their breath, they most likely have been infected by the disease. WHO put an end to this myth which caused panic and anxiety to the public on March 29th by tweeting “Fact: being able to hold your breath for 10 seconds or more without coughing or discomfort DOES NOT mean you are free from #coronavirus disease or any other lung disease. #covid19 #KnowTheFacts” (World Health Organization, 2020). In times of worry and concern, these misconceptions can fuel public anxiety and concern, it is up to the public whether or not to trust the source they are consuming information from, but with that in mind, to prevent the spread of such disease one must verify the information they consume to avoid getting into trouble.
The global rise of questionable sources spreading false information has been an irritation to the public community and scientists who research specifically for this topic. The distinct knowledge between scientific researchers and a normal member of the public has a long gap in the credibility category when it comes to sharing information regarding coronavirus. The spread of information using social media has worsened public anxiety and caused a division between people. The side consuming information from credible and reliable sources such as WHO and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the other less and equipped with the right strategies and precautions to fend off the disease as this side is consuming information from random sources on the internet. the total-field awareness engendered by electronic media is enabling us to grope toward a consciousness of the unconscious (McLuhan, 1969). Being educated with false information is the same as not being conscious at all as it is absolutely unhelpful to society or even worse as the person who had just consumed the false information decides to share with their friends on their Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. therefore, falsely advocating the concerned public. To start a trend on Twitter, WHO started a hashtag called #KnowTheFacts. In concern for people consuming misinformation that could later lead to worse circumstancing as they are trying to contain the spread of the disease. “Hand hygiene saves lives! To contain the spread of #covid19 – and many other infectious diseases – it’s crucial to clean your hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub. Download & share our hand washing guide today and keep it ‘handy’!” (World Health Organization Thailand, 2020). Generally, the WHO uses this hashtag whenever they make a tweet regarding questionable myths, procedure concerns, and ending the spread of false information. WHO has also went above and beyond using Twitter to inform the public about its other methods of social media advocacy on coronavirus “WHO health alert brings #covid19 facts brilliant via WhatsApp Inc. Users can simply type ‘hi’ to activate the conversation, prompting a menu of options that can help answer their questions about the #covid19” (World Health Organization Western Pacific, 2020) WHO is taking the proper measures and the right strategy when it comes to advocating the public about coronavirus, gaining millions of engagements worldwide from users looking to consume information from the right source.
As the coronavirus affects people’s lives, directly and indirectly, the consumption of false information by the public will lead to a setback in efforts to contain the virus and fend it off. WHO has taken every measure possible through the use of Twitter to contain the stress, anxiety, public panic, and prove them false and misguided information provided by unreliable sources to not start a confusion amongst the public and for the people across the world to unite in terms of education of correct and helpful information. WHO has gained a large volume of attention on social media — Twitter in particular — as it has become most people’s educator when it comes to fighting off a disease that could drastically change one’s life for the worse and affect everyone around them and their communities. WHO continues to use twitter to gain power and trust of the people and reduce concerns around coronavirus. the volume of information coming in outperforms any capacity to inspect and analyze it and to try to cross-reference, there is a risk that