ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2020
The Impact of Social Media on Panic During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iraqi Kurdistan: Online Questionnaire Study.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 220 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
220 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 763 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of social media on COVID-19 preventive behaviors worldwide, systematic review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- The Impact and Applications of Social Media Platforms for Public Health Responses Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Literature Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- COVID-19 news consumption and distress in young people: A systematic review.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Pooled it
- COVID-19-related misinformation on social media: a systematic review.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2021Pooled it
- Mental burden and its risk and protective factors during the early phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: systematic review and meta-analyses.Globalization and health · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Psychological distress among healthcare providers during COVID-19 in Asia: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Usefulness of Smartphone Apps for Improving Nutritional Status of Pancreatic Cancer Patients: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Trial
- Impact of a Serious Game (Escape COVID-19) on the Intention to Change COVID-19 Control Practices Among Employees of Long-term Care Facilities: Web-Based Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Trial
- Digital epidemiology and public health surveillance: scientometric mapping of emerging technologies and challenges (2000-2025).Frontiers in digital health · 2026Review
- Associations between social media exposure and COVID-19 preventive behaviors in post-zero-COVID China: a moderated mediation model of risk perception, fear, and mindfulness.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Infodemic in COVID-19 and its relationship with stress, depression, and anxiety in the elderly.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2026Article
- The panic-sadness bridge: a longitudinal study using undirected and directed network analyses of COVID-19-related anxiety and depression.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- COVID-19, sense of control, and the rise of addictive behaviors: a study in Poland.Postepy psychiatrii neurologii · 2025Article
- Bibliometric Insights Into the Infodemic: Global Research Trends and Policy Responses: Quantitative Research.JMIR medical informatics · 2025Article
- High frequency and duration of social media exposure during the COVID- 19 pandemic are associated with mental health problems among employees at an Egyptian university.The Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association · 2025Article
- Large-Scale Deep Learning-Enabled Infodemiological Analysis of Substance Use Patterns on Social Media: Insights From the COVID-19 Pandemic.JMIR infodemiology · 2025Article
- Understanding Public Emotions: Spatiotemporal Dynamics in the Post-Pandemic Era Through Weibo Data.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Association between the COVID-19 infodemic and depression symptom screening in older adults.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2025Article
- Cross-national prevalence of mental disorders in older adults exposed to COVID-19 information.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2025Article
160 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn the first few months of 2020, information and news reports about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were rapidly published and shared on social media and social networking sites. While the field of infodemiology has studied information patterns on the Web and in social media for at least 18 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has been referred to as the first social media infodemic. However, there is limited evidence about whether and how the social media infodemic has spread panic and affected the mental health of social media users.
objectiveThe aim of this study is to determine how social media affects self-reported mental health and the spread of panic about COVID-19 in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
methodsTo carry out this study, an online questionnaire was prepared and conducted in Iraqi Kurdistan, and a total of 516 social media users were sampled. This study deployed a content analysis method for data analysis. Correspondingly, data were analyzed using SPSS software.
resultsParticipants reported that social media has a significant impact on spreading fear and panic related to the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan, with a potential negative influence on people's mental health and psychological well-being. Facebook was the most used social media network for spreading panic about the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraq. We found a significant positive statistical correlation between self-reported social media use and the spread of panic related to COVID-19 (R=.8701). Our results showed that the majority of youths aged 18-35 years are facing psychological anxiety.
conclusionsDuring lockdown, people are using social media platforms to gain information about COVID-19. The nature of the impact of social media panic among people varies depending on an individual's gender, age, and level of education. Social media has played a key role in spreading anxiety about the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.