Social Media in the Post-Pandemic World

Abstract

Social media linkage to audience behaviors has remained a flashpoint for social scientists especially in the post pandemic world. The researchers, therefore, attempt to comprehend how exposure to social media affected different segments of social life including mental health; children safety; domestic violence; virtual education and social media usage protocols in the light of the evolving literature on COVID-19 and the use of social media. The review of the relevant literature indicated that social media exposure has been significantly associated with mental health issues like Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS), anxiety and depression. Fear of the future served as the strongest mediator between functional impairment of health and media usage. It was also suggested that uncertain socio-economic situations along with social isolation can potentially increase the risk of domestic violence to which children are most vulnerable. To contain exposure to violent social media content development of effective remote access support mechanisms was stressed. Similarly, In the post-pandemic scenario educationalists realized that certain elements of online education should be permanently incorporated in the routine curriculum to cope up with future challenges.