impact of the covid-19 pandemic on social media impact of the covid-19 pandemic on social media during a time of social distance and limited contact with others, social media became an important place to interact during the covid-19 pandemic. social media platforms helped the world remain connected, largely increasing in usage. individuals isolated at home turned to social media to maintain their relationships and to access entertainment to pass the time. part of a series on thecovid-19 pandemicscientifically accurate atomic model of the external structure of sars-cov-2. each "ball" is an atom. covid-19 (disease) sars-cov-2 (virus) cases deaths timeline 2019 2020 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2021 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses 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by country disability domestic violence emergency evacuations education female environment hospitals language lgbt community long-term care media coverage mental health symptoms migration military notable deaths other health issues politics diplomacy popular culture protests pregnancy prisons religion catholic church hajj science and technology social media strikes suicides telehealth xenophobia and racism society ireland malaysia new zealand russia uk us covid-19 portal the pandemic has affected the usage of social media by the world's general population, celebrities, world leaders, and professionals alike. social networking services have been used to spread information, and to find humor and distraction from the pandemic via internet memes. however, social distancing has forced lifestyle changes for many people, which put a strain on mental health. many online counseling services that use social media were created and began to rise in popularity, as they could safely connect mental health workers with those who need them. covid-19 gave more attention to online psychological counseling, and the novel coronavirus pandemic also caused great difficulties in face-to-face communication. in addition to being a global threat, covid-19 is referred to as an infodemic. the direct access to content through platforms such as twitter and youtube leave users susceptible to rumors and questionable information. this information can strongly influence individual behaviors, limiting group cohesion and therefore the effectiveness of government countermeasures to the virus. platforms were additionally used by politicians, political movements, and national and state level health organizations to share information quickly and reach a lot of people. increase in usage messaging and video call services multiple social media websites reported a sharp increase in usage after social distancing measures were put into place. since many people cannot connect with their friends and family in person, for the time being, social media has become the main form of communication to maintain these valuable connections. for example, facebook's analytics department reported over 50 percent increase in overall messaging during the last month of march 2020. whatsapp has also reported a 40 per cent increase in usage. moreover, there has been a noticeable increase in the use of zoom since the start of the pandemic. global downloads for tiktok went up 5% in march 2020 compared to february. a new service called quarantinechat that connects people randomly reported having over 15,000 users a month after its launch on 1 march 2020. facebook, twitter, and youtube have all increased reliance on spam filters because staff members who moderate content were unable to work. online counseling services particularly in countries where the virus was hit hardest, such as china, online mental health services received a surge in demand. this is because covid-19 prevented patients from meeting with therapists or psychologists in person. in china, medical staff has used social media programs like wechat, weibo, and tiktok to roll out online mental health education programs. in canada, the provincial government of alberta has launched a $53 million covid-19 mental health response plan, which includes increasing accessibility to phone and online supports with existing helplines. in the province of ontario, the government has provided emergency funding of up to $12 million to expand online and virtual mental health supports. effect of covid-19 on mental health main article: mental health during the covid-19 pandemic there is extensive psychology research proving that connectivity with others develops a sense of belonging and psychosocial wellbeing, which enhances mental health and reduces risk for anxiety and depression. the overload of information and the constant use of social media has been shown to positively correlate with an increase of depression and anxiety, yet also with the improvement of communication skills . the impact of following social distancing measures can cause the feeling of loneliness and isolation in people, increasing the feeling of anxiety and can be very overwhelming. "many adults are also reporting specific negative impacts on their mental health and wellbeing, such as difficulty sleeping (60%) or eating (80%), increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (50%), and worsening chronic conditions (35%), due to worry and stress over the education and employment conditions." while being part of a global pandemic, it can be stressful and cause anxiety amongst yourself and family but there are ways you can support yourself and your family. given that the virus continues to erupt around the world, especially in the us and europe, affecting millions of people, it is necessary to assess and develop strategies to address the mental health and mental disorders caused by direct or indirect exposure to this situation. these strategies are targeted specifically at the individuals with mental issues due to the actions taken by the government against the outbreak of coronavirus, viral infection and infection. in general, targeting the entire population or large communities is not beneficial. effect of covid-19 on face-to-face communication due to the global pandemic, people have experienced negative effects on their interpersonal communication during the covid-19 pandemic online, which has increased the use of face masks, social distancing, and self-isolation in the real world. nonverbal communication, such as facial gestures and facial expressions, account for 55% of our overall communication. the increased use of face masks and is making interpretation during face-to-face communication far more challenging because masks hide a large portion of the face and pose difficulty for individuals to read into basic communication signals, such as intention and emotion. wearing a face mask causes individuals to focus on oral cues without many nonverbal expressions, which can generate mistrust, misinterpretation, lack of linguistic understanding, and failure to comprehend. along with the disconnect individuals experience from wearing a face mask, social distancing and self-isolation presents the dangers of increasing social rejection, growing impersonality and individualism, and the loss of a sense of community. the data suggests that the implementation of the mask, increased social distancing, and self-isolation produces challenges in people's ability to foster positive interpersonal relationships and a sense of community. the new covid-19 pneumonia epidemic has seriously affected the way people communicate with each other. preventive measures to limit the spread of the virus require changes in communication patterns in greetings and handshakes. the situation requires people to adopt salutes that do not require physical contact, such as "peaceful gestures" and "hands on the chest". in addition, telecommunications has witnessed a significant increase in the emphasis on personal space and social distance as business meetings, conferences and educational activities move to virtual communication through social applications such as zoom, cisco webex, skype and microsoft teams. effect of covid-19 on online business the covid-19 pandemic forced many businesses to shut down or implement remote work and many workers were fired. families are stuck at home in self-isolation and quarantine as an effective measure of preventing the spread of covid-19. keeping that in mind, this puts today's online businesses in a rather opportune position. many business owners are complaining about losing sales from walk-in customers, while businesses with a well-designed website are serving more customers than ever. many businesses have seen a drastic increase in online orders since the start of the pandemic. as for the businesses losing sales, they have had to find ways to adapt to people's new spending habits. effects of covid-19 on visual arts the global shutdowns forced artists, museums, and galleries to find new ways to connect with the public. a social media challenge created by the getty museum asked users to recreate works from their collection with items from around their house, and post the photographs to social media. david zwirner gallery was one of many galleries to move their scheduled exhibits to a virtual gallery space. social distance gallery, a project by artist benjamin cook, used instagram to host mini thesis exhibitions for students from around the world that had their graduation shows canceled. increased engagement in a study of people's engagement on the internet and social media collected from july 2019 - 2020 indicated a 10.5% increase of active social media users. instagram reported a 70% increase in viewers of live videos from february to march when lockdown measures began. a study in july, four months after the first covid-19 lockdown measures, polled what individuals' purpose was when they used social media as well as other connective technologies. 83% of people stated it "helps me cope with covid-19 related lockdown" this was the largest response measured against other responses such as education, keeping in touch with friends and family, and work which were 76%, 74%, and 67% respectively, and reflects the reliance on social media in critical aspects of people's lives during the pandemic. because of the pandemic, people have to decrease their social activities to protect each other. students also have to study online, and most students use social media as a new way to study. researchers found the advantage of using social media to study and some disadvantages about this for students. also, social media is very important for governments to spread information about covid-19. unesco reported that the closure of academic institutes caused by the pandemic had affected 890 million students in 114 countries. social media is indispensable for students during the pandemic. when people need to stay at home, using social media is the most effective way to work with others. also, using social media for cooperation can also help students handle more techniques. for example, when students use social media to work with group members, they can understand how to communicate and collaborate with others. during the process, members can help each other and figure out problems of themselves. use as entertainment many internet memes have been created about the pandemic. a popular facebook group for young people (predominantly generation z) was "zoom memes for self quaranteens," playing on pun of the increase in zoom usage and self-quarantining as teenagers, which had over 500,000 members as of april 2020. the group shared memes they found or created about the pandemic, and served as entertainment for the hundreds of thousands of young people that had been forced