scholarly journals Xenophobia in the Time of a Pandemic: Social Media Use, Stereotypes, and Prejudice against Immigrants during the COVID-19 Crisis

Author(s):  
Saifuddin Ahmed ◽  
Vivian Chen Hsueh-Hua ◽  
Arul Indrasen Chib

Abstract This study examines the relationship between social media use, disease risk perception, social and political trust, and out-group stereotyping and prejudice during a social upheaval. Analyses of primary data collected during the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore found that disease risk perception is positively related to stereotyping and prejudice against Chinese immigrants. Individuals who used social media for news were more likely to stereotype and express prejudice. However, those who engaged in frequent heterogenous discussions, and had more extensive social networks, were less likely to stereotype and express prejudice. Higher social and political trust was also associated with lower stereotyping and prejudice. Finally, moderation effects of network characteristics on the relationship between risk perception, social trust, and prejudice were observed.

Author(s):  
Abinet Arega Sadore ◽  
Demelash Woldeyohannes Handiso ◽  
Tekle Ejajo Wontamo ◽  
Dejene Ermias Mekango ◽  
Sisay Moges

Abstract Background: Infection with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a severe public health issue worldwide. A broad amount of information related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was disseminated by social media in Ethiopia. To date, there is limited evidence on the influence of social media use for covid-19 related information on covid-19 preventive practice. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the influence of social media use on the practice of COVID-19 preventive measures in Ethiopia. Methods: This study employed an anonymous internet-based online cross-sectional survey using Google forms to collects the data from the respondents from 15 May to 17 June 2020 in Ethiopia. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between social media usage as a predictor and COVID-19 preventive practice, after adjusting for socio-demographic and risk perception of COVID-19 variables. The data were analysed using SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 372 respondents have participated in the study. From 372, 208(55.9%) respondents in this study were male. Study participants who had good utilization of social media to get COVID-19 related information were 9.5 times engaged in COVID-19 preventive practices compared to study participants who had poor utilization of social media to get covid-19 related information (AOR= 9.59, 95% CI = 5.70 - 16.13). Also, study participants who had a high-risk perception of COVID-19 were 2.6 times engaged in COVID-19 practices compared to study participants who had a low-risk perception of covid-19 (AOR = 2.63, 95% CI = 1.58 - 4.38). Study participants who were students at the time of this study were four times more likely to show adequate COVID-19 preventive practice score compared to those who had another occupational status (AOR= 4.07, 95% CI= 1.66 - 9.98) Conclusions: Our results show that the usage of social media networks can have a positive effect on the practice of preventive measures and public safety against COVID-19; high-risk perception contributed to preventive activities against COVID-19. Social networking platforms can be used by public health agencies as an important method to raise public health understanding by disseminating concise messages to targeted audiences.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (2spl) ◽  
pp. 672-680
Author(s):  
Chrysa AGAPITOU ◽  
◽  
Evanthia RIZOU ◽  
Aggeliki KONSTANTOGLOU ◽  
Dimitrios FOLINAS ◽  
...  

The primary aim of this paper is to examine the use of social media by managers in the field of tourism, especially in small and medium-sized businesses in Greece. An explanatory quantitative survey has been applied to collect, process and analyze primary data using questionnaires answered by 302 tourist accommodation owners, originated from 35 prefectures across the mainland and the islands of Greece. The research has indicated that the degree of social media dynamics is also large in small and medium-sized businesses. Regarding the goals that every business wishes to achieve by using social media, it has come up that businessmen seem to be content with their simple preserve on social media and retain mainly an informative and advertising approach. Based of the findings, it has become apparent that social media use, even for advertising purposes, occurs but without being a part of a general strategy promotion, thus with no specific plan or goals, without realizing the benefits of their advantages, and with no results measurements.


Author(s):  
Faradita Mahdani Ibrahim ◽  

This study aims to determine how the influence of the use of social media (Work-related social media use) and social media (Social-related social media use) on job satisfaction. In addition, to find out how the role of work engagement and organizational engagement, as a mediating variable in the relationship.The research was conducted in Indonesia with the analysis unit of the State Civil Servant (SCS) domiciled in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar. A sample of 212 respondents obtained by using a questionnaire distribution technique using google form, data analysis using SEM-AMOS.The results of the analysis show that the use of social media (Work-related social media use) has no effect on job satisfaction, but the use of social media (Social-related social media use) is found to increase the job satisfaction of SCS.The results of the analysis also show that the use of social media (Work-related social media use) can increase work engagement, but has no effect on increasing organizational engagement. The use of social media (Social-related social media use) contributes to an increase in work engagement and organizational engagement. Furthermore, it was found that there was a significant effect of work engagement and organizational engagement on SCS job satisfaction. Work engagement and organizational engagement play a role as a mediating variable (partially) in the relationship between social media use (Social-related social media use) and job satisfaction. But there is no role as a mediating variable in the relationship between (Work-related social media use) and job satisfaction.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Argenyi ◽  
Poorna Kushalnagar

BACKGROUND About 46% of US adults obtain recommended HIV screening at least once during their lifetime. There is little knowledge of screening rates among deaf and hard-of-hearing adults who primarily use American Sign Language (ASL), or of social media as a potentially efficacious route for HIV prevention outreach, despite lower HIV/AIDS-specific health literacy and potentially higher HIV seropositivity rates than hearing peers. OBJECTIVE We investigated both the likelihood of HIV screening uptake among deaf adults in the past year and over one year ago, and the relationship between social media use and HIV screening uptake among deaf adult ASL users. METHODS The Health Information National Trends Survey in ASL was administered to 1340 deaf US adults between 2015-2018. Modified Poisson with robust standard errors was used to assess the relationship between social media usage as a predictor and HIV screening as an outcome (screened more than one year ago, screened within the past year, and never been screened), after adjusting for sociodemographics and sexually transmitted disease (STD) covariates. RESULTS The estimated lifetime prevalence of HIV screening uptake among our sample was 54% (719/1340), with 32% (429/1340) in the past year. Being of younger age, male gender, black, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer, or having some college education or a prior STD were associated with HIV screening uptake. Adjusting for correlates, social media use was significantly associated with HIV screening in the past year, compared to either lifetime or never. CONCLUSIONS Screening falls well short of universal screening targets, with gaps among heterosexual, female, Caucasian, or older deaf adults. HIV screening outreach may not be effective because of technological or linguistic inaccessibility, rendering ASL users an underrecognized minority group. However, social media is still a powerful tool, particularly among younger deaf adults at risk for HIV.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warner Myntti ◽  
Jensen Spicer ◽  
Carol Janney ◽  
Stacey Armstrong ◽  
Sarah Domoff

Adolescents are spending more time interacting with peers online than in person, evidencing the need to examine this shift’s implications for adolescent loneliness and mental health. The current review examines research documenting an association between social media use and mental health, and highlights several specific areas that should be further explored as mechanisms within this relationship. Overall, it appears that frequency of social media use, the kind of social media use, the social environment, the platform used, and the potential for adverse events are especially important in understanding the relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandros Koulouris ◽  
Eftichia Vraimaki ◽  
Maria Koloniari

Purpose The study aims to explore Greek libraries’ social media presence and library operation and social media use during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected via an online questionnaire that was distributed to the Greek libraries. The final sample comprised 189 libraries of all types with the exception of school libraries. Findings Results indicated that Facebook is the most widely used platform, while social media are mainly used for sharing announcements about library operations and for the promotion of events. During the COVID-19 lockdown, libraries responded quickly to the new circumstances by taking many of their services online. However, they did not fully use social media for service provision but rather used social media as a static communication channel. Only a few of the libraries grasped the opportunity to highlight their role in the promotion of public health by providing timely and reliable information. Practical implications Library leaders who are looking to harness the power of social media for service promotion and outreach should build a strategy that takes platform popularity, current social media trends, patron preferences and the specific promotional objectives of their library into consideration. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current research is the first which attempts to explore the social media presence of Greek libraries of all types and changes made to library operations and social media use in response to the COVID-19 lockdown.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document