Social Media, Risk Perceptions Related toCOVID‐19, and Health Outcomes

Abstract

This chapter examines the associations among exposure to COVID-19-related information on social media, risk perceptions, and health attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Risk perceptions are known to be important determinants of an individual’s willingness to adopt health-protective behaviors during pandemics similar to COVID-19, including frequent hand washing, physical distancing, avoiding public places, and wearing face masks. The chapter discusses a number of health communication theoretical frameworks that may help to shed light on social media use and risk perceptions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media has been criticized during the COVID-19 pandemic as a medium for the rapid spread of fake news. Assessing the relationship between social media use and health behaviors related to COVID-19 prevention can be challenging for a variety of reasons. The chapter concludes with a discussion of potential future directions for research in the context of COVID-19 and risk perceptions.