Assessing the Effects of Social Media on The Attitudes and Behaviour of Students from United States International University – Africa Towards Covid – 19 Containment Measures

Abstract:

The World Health Organization, different governments, health providers and other stakeholders are the main public health information disseminators, and they use different sources to share the information to the public. One of the most popular sources is social media as it reaches a wide following. However, not all information on social media platforms is always accurate. The creation and spread of unverified information during a pandemic is referred to as infodemics and it tends to affect the attitudes and behaviour of people. The interest in this research was to analyse how COVID-19 information on social media influences the attitudes and behaviour of university students towards COVID-19 containment measures. This research therefore focuses on three areas: First, critically analysing the main sources of information that university students rely on for information on COVID-19, secondly examining the attitudes and behaviour of university students towards COVID-19 containment measures, and lastly, investigating how social media influences the attitudes and behaviour of university students to COVID-19 containment measures. The research found out that most students relied on social media for COVID-19 information and the information gotten from the platforms was accurate. The research concludes with general findings that most students had a positive attitude towards containment measures and social media also played a part in influencing their attitudes and behaviour. This research therefore recommends that a similar research is done in a rural setting focusing on emerging issues like the 2022 Kenyan elections.