Role Of Social Media In Sustaining Business During Corona Virus Pandemic

Abstract

Due to Corona Virus Pandemic (Covid-19), several countries across the world resorted to lockdowns in order to protect their people from getting infected from the virus. But these lockdowns confined millions of citizens to their homes restricting their mobility. Restricted mobilization resulted in shutting down businesses and ceasing almost all economic activities. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global economy is expected to shrink by over 3 per cent in 2020, the steepest slowdown since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Another analysis by International Monetary Fund reveals that demand in the manufacturing sector has gone down in many countries of the world that further resulted in unemployment. During the lockdown, an estimated 14 crore (140 million) people lost employment while salaries were cut for many others. More than 45 per cent of households across the nation have reported an income drop as compared to the previous year. Thus, Covid-19/ Crona virus outbreak has presented new and significant downside risks to the global economic outlook. In the case of India too, some economists revealed that during lockdown there is ajoblossof40millionpeople(MRD report) in the country, that’s too in the unorganized sectors. Moreover, with the advent of the lockdown most of the sector shifted their functioning online or work from home in order to sustain their working. During shutdown it is also observed that the digital world got a push, sale of mobile phones and related gadgets increased. The small as well as big traders, businessmen started using apps like watsepp, Face book, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, PayTM etc more frequently. Undoubtedly, social media has helped in sustaining economy and business during the Corona Virus Pandemic. The present research work is an effort to look upon the role of social media in sustaining business during lockdown. Data were collected empirically again with the help of social media. Results revealed that impacts of lockdown were different on different types of businesses.