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EXPERT INSIGHTS
Oct-21-2022
The role of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic
Jackson Kushner
During the height of COVID-19, people around the world used social media to stay connected — even while physically separated. This made COVID-19 different from previous pandemics. As countries began to quarantine, there were seismic shifts in communities and across business, which were documented and influenced by social media.
Here we look at social media’s role throughout the COVID-19 quarantine, and which trends we think continue to permeate today.
The importance of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, and why it matters
Can you imagine first learning about a pandemic because a Boy Scout knocked on your door to tell you about it? Well, during the 1918 flu pandemic, that’s how it worked.
The CDC estimates the 1918 flu pandemic infected a third of the world’s population and killed an estimated fifty million people globally. A public health report on Minneapolis’ response to the 1918 flu shows that critical information regarding the virus was primarily shared via postal workers, Boy Scouts, and teachers; very different to how information is shared today.
Now, not only do we have access to news sources at our fingertips, but the speed at which we consume information means we have immediate access to livesaving social and medical information.
More people logged on to social media during the pandemic than ever before. A study by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that 70% of respondents (Spanish adults) reported their social media use increased during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, and 87% reported increases during the second wave in 2021.
Even before the pandemic, businesses and governments used social media to share information. The severity of COVID-19, the confusion around the safest protocols, and the mandated COVID-19 quarantines all underscored the need for an even more strategic approach to social media usage.
For example, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses used social media to better support employees and customers like never before, and governments leveraged it to quickly share the latest news and information across platforms.
The pandemic in many ways sped up the adoption of digital channels for people, businesses, and governments alike and permanently shifted how we move in the world. These are the four most important social media takeaways from the pandemic.
1. Social media can provide both information and misinformation
The speed with which information could be spread was one of the biggest benefits of social media during COVID-19 — and also one of its biggest drawbacks. On the positive side, governments, healthcare agencies, and even brands used social media to provide people with a better understanding of events in real-time. But it was also usedto spread falsehoods, including miracle preventative measures, false claims about martial law, conspiracy theories, masks, and more. The spread of helpful health information was prominent, but so was the spread of misinformation.
Finding trusted sources of information duringCOVID-19 could sometimes be challenging — especially on social media. With so much incertainty, people grappled for as much information as possible and thus became more susceptible to false and sometimes hazardous claims, which they shared with to others. According to a PEW Research Center report , about half of Americans said they’d seen falsenews about COVID-19.
Distinguishing between trustworthy vs. untrustworthy sources on social media is crucial
A comprehensive WHO study on how people sought out and responded to fake news found a majority of respondents (59%) across the globe were often highly aware of untrustworthy sources. If they encountered a source that they knew to be inaccurate, 35% said they ignored it and 25% said they reported it, and 8.6% said they unfollowed the poster. In terms of positioning your brand as being reliable and worthy of an individual’s attention, none of these responses to inaccurate information promotes good outcomes.
As a business, it’s your responsibility to ensure the information you decide to share is fact-checked and accurate. On social media, be cautious to avoid alarmist or absolute language in an effort to provide help instead of instill fear. It is more important now than ever before that businesses pay attention to what they share, and stick to facts.
2. Social media can influence public response to outbreaks
Here are a few of the most distinct ways social media influenced the public at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — especially when lockdowns started in March 2020.
Social distancing and home quarantine provide opportunities for digital connection
Until COVID-19, many of us hadn’t even heard of “social distancing.” Soon after the world went into lockdown, social media users called for social distancing and encouraged people to stay strong during mandated quarantines.
One of the benefits of social media during the first wave of the pandemic was it enabled helpful information to be easily shared with a wide audience.
Meanwhile, many organizations even came up with creative ways to continue engaging with people via social media. For example the Getty Museum asked people to recreate works of art using items found in their homes and post them to their social accounts.
We challenge you to recreate a work of art with objects (and people) in your home. 🥇 Choose your favorite artwork 🥈 Find three things lying around your house⠀ 🥉 Recreate the artwork with those items And share with us. pic.twitter.com/9BNq35HY2V — Getty is Celebrating 25 Years (@GettyMuseum) March 25, 2020
“Quarantine culture” became a trend as society went from dealing with the lockdown to embracing it — changing the ways brands interacted with consumers .
Social media both promotes and discourages pandemic-related behaviors
At the start of the pandemic, many people panic-purchased things like household goods, sanitization products, and food in fear that necessities would become scarce— much like you would see with a natural disaster.
On social media, we saw panic buying discussed in two distinct ways: (1) people posting about their own panic buying, showing images of carts filled with toilet paper, water bottles, and frozen meals; and (2) people posting pictures of empty shelves or other people’s carts as a way to shame supposed panic buyers.
During this time, it was key for businesses to ease consumer fears that led to panic buying. With social media, businesses could quickly update customers and clients with information on supply chain and restocks. Businesses also have authority to speak on how customers can obtain products responsibly and sustainably — making the business-to-consumer connection stronger.
3. Social media provides a platform for socially responsible product marketing and branding
The COVID-19 outbreak was a defining moment for many brands in how they chose to market their products. Some took advantage of people’s fear during the pandemic by selling snake oil-type products (think essential oils claiming to provide immunity), while others took the opportunity to do right by their customers and the community.
Social media highlights product needs and opportunities brought on by new circumstances
As the pandemic ramped up, we saw businesses pay extra attention to emerging trends, such as the increased search volume for things like face masks and hand sanitizer.
In fact, many brands responded to the overall increase in demand by pivoting from their normal products to produce these suddenly in-demand goods. Alcohol companies like Anheuser-Busch shifted from brewing beer to making hand sanitizer, Tesla began producing ventilators, and Brooks Brothers went from stitching suits to face masks.
Other examples of pandemic-related marketing that filled a sudden need include stores and restaurants emphasizing curbside pick-up and delivery services and the countless “video-conference” advertisements aimed toward people working at home.
Brands focused on socially responsible product marketing
Despite the uptick in alarmist-focused media spend, many businesses provided powerful and empathetic responses to COVID-19. Brands recognized their main responsibility was to provide for the safety and well-being of their employees and customers.
In response to a tweet sent by a librarian in Dubai , Audible made a wide selection of titles free for kids and teens for the duration of the pandemic, helping them to fill hours spent at home, unmoored from the usual schedules.
Dial spread awareness about the proper handwashing technique and Reebok offered to create customized home workouts for consumers.
4. Social media can bring positivity during a scary time
No platform is perfect. While we saw misinformation and fear on social media, there was also an abundance of lifesaving information, connection, and global unity. Social media let us share experiences with family and friends to combat isolation while reminding us we’re all in this together.
Here are a few of the ways that social media made positive impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic:
Fundraisers were organized and distributed on social to help raise money for those in need
COVID-19 put many — especially the elderly, those with disabilities, working parents who lost childcare, and those who lost their jobs — in challenging situations. During the pandemic, communities rallied by sharing fundraisers with large audiences on social media.
On an individual level, the role social media played during the quarantine period helped people offer support in any way they could, such as picking up groceries for individuals who were unable to leave home. The importance of social media during lockdown for keeping people connected shouldn’t be underestimated.
Many local businesses used social media to spread the word about how local communities could support them during the pandemic, and corporations used it to fundraise and spread information about assistance initiatives.
Social media after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19 is the first pandemic with social media. We’re just beginning to understand social media’s role in how people experience and handle outbreaks of this scale. In the years to come, more studies will show us exactly how social media influences the ways the public and businesses alike respond to such an unprecedented global event, and how those responses on a public platform impact individuals, corporations, and governments.
If one thing is for sure, it’s that the pandemic has forever changed the ways in which brands interact with consumers — and social media is at the forefront of that shift. Social media usage during the pandemic shaped us, our businesses, and our government. In our twenty years of experience improving CX, Khoros has never seen so many businesses have to shift and adjust to so much so quickly.
Manage your social media during the pandemic and beyond with Khoros
Khoros is proud to have helped our clients throughout COVID-19. We also encourage you to check out our COVID-19 resource page and COVID-19 Marketing webinar , or any of the following resources we created for marketing and social media during COVID-19:
Guide to marketing during a pandemic
Re-engaging your customers after a pandemic
Contact center challenges during COVID-19
Driving customer engagement from home
COVID-19 customer engagement tip sheet
Need help managing your social media? Khoros is here for you through the good times and the bad. We help our clients reduce time spent managing social media and more with unified social listening , planning, and publishing. Our social media management tools help you scale, elevate, protect, and measure your social content, while our digital customer service tools for social media and review platforms allow you to manage service inquiries across channels.
Request a demo today and learn how Khoros can help you create customers for life!
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What is the Role of Social Media During the COVID-19 Crisis?
Today, social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, have become primary sources of information. They are also vehicles for fake news and disinformation. During a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, how should social media be mastered and employed in a responsible way? HEC Paris Associate Professor of Marketing, Kristine de Valck, has been studying the role of social networks in the marketplace since 1999. She explains.
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How do companies and individuals use social media during such crisis.
Broadly, there are two opposing logics. Companies can use social media for commercial purposes or for communal purposes. In other words, companies use social media to brand, sell, market their business (which is close to traditional marketing efforts using mass-media) versus using social media to connect with and co-create with customers and – more importantly – to provide a platform to customers to bond together. You can see this as the distinction between using social media to talk to your customers versus using social media to talk with your customers and have them talk to each other through your brand.
You can see this as the distinction between using social media to talk to your customers versus using social media to talk with your customers and have them talk to each other through your brand.
For individuals, the same axe translates into using social media to self-present – that can turn into the very narcissistic self-exposure that we sometimes see on social media versus using social media to connect with friends, family and likeminded others for socialization and emotional support.
What particular strengths of social media are highlighted during such difficult times?
For me, this crisis highlights the particular strengths of social media in how they can be used for the second type of purpose; that is community and emotional support.
Just like we have seen with other crises, such as the earthquake and following tsunami that caused the nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, the terrorists attacks in Paris and elsewhere in Europe over the past years, we see today that people all over the world reach out to each other – close by and far away – through social media to make sense of what is happening.
Just like we have seen with other crises, people all over the world reach out to each other through social media to make sense of what is happening.
I am thinking of the many funny videos about how people creatively deal with the lockdown, of the neighborhood Facebook groups that organize entertainment and practical support to help neighbors who need assistance with grocery shopping or childcare, and the quick rise of apps and functionalities that allow for live chat and video sessions with multiple people. This is social media in its core and at its best.
People turn to social media not only for support and entertainment, but also use it as a source of information… and fake news.
This is where we need to warn for the dark side of social media and its role in spreading fake news. Platforms have been slow in acknowledging their responsibility in helping platform users distinguish fake news from facts, but they are taking steps in the right direction. Instagram, for example, announced to only include COVID-19 related posts and stories in their recommendation section that are published by official health organizations. In general, my advice is to crosscheck information that you get through social media with at least two other information sources such as government websites and high-quality news outlets. In addition, we also all have a role to play by not further spreading rumors through our social media accounts.
How should marketers adopt their social media strategies in this extraordinary time?
It is a tricky question. Typically, I teach my students that marketers should relate their social media contributions to the real-time context. Indeed, at the start of the crisis I kept receiving long-before planned brand posts that did not refer at all to the situation, and thus, seemed misplaced. At the same time, trying to leverage a sanitary crisis for branding purposes in your social media posts can quickly be perceived as distasteful.
The best examples I have seen come from companies that offer free resources to their customers to face the crisis. For example, many academic publishers have made online content available for free to support teachers and students worldwide with distance learning. Closer to home, the Pilates teacher at HEC Paris has started a YouTube channel where he posts videos on how we can keep fit while confined at home.
Instead of self-glorifying social media brand posts, brands will be forced to embrace the communal logic of social media during the COVID-19 crisis.
Instead of self-glorifying social media brand posts, brands will be forced to embrace the communal logic of social media during the COVID-19 crisis. More than ever, social media posts should be user-centric and not producer-centric. Brands that will be able to deliver messages and engage in conversations that are considered valuable because they provide helpful information, relevant advice or that simply make you laugh will come out of the crisis stronger.
Stay safe and keep sharing!
Kristine de Valck's research and teaching focus on how the Internet in general and social media in particular have changed consumer behavior...
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