Background

The Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) (Astuti, 2020; Pourhossein et al., 2020). The virus was initially discovered in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 (Ralph et al., 2020). On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency, and on March 11, 2020, it declared a pandemic (Chauhan, 2020; Wolkewitz & Puljak, 2020). Millions of new cases and deaths have been confirmed worldwide, making it one of the worst pandemics in history (Rose-Redwood et al., 2020). The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) confirmed a case of COVID-19 on March 13, 2020, and is the first case reported in Ethiopia (Abate et al., 2020; Mohammed et al., 2020). In Ethiopia, new cases for six consecutive months since the first case was reported were as follows: March (26), April (105), May (1041), June (4674), July (11,684), and August (34,601) (Nyoni et al., 2020).

During a pandemic breakout, COVID-19 material has been distributed on several websites, and readers have been given various instructions on how to prevent the virus from spreading, such as keeping a safe distance from one another, disguising, and washing their hands (Abdullahi et al., 2020; Kebede et al., 2020; Parikh et al., 2020). Social media became a critical area to communicate and share knowledge at a period when social distance and engagement with people were constrained. Many people have turned to social media for connections and entertainment because they have been ordered to stay at home (Ahmad & Murad, 2020). Many people are quarantined at home or in hospitals (Mohindra et al., 2020; Wilder-Smith & Freedman, 2020). Social media can be an efficient source of information and an effective means of keeping up with medical knowledge (Ahmad & Murad, 2020; Nisar & Shafiq, 2019).

The COVID19 pandemic has changed how people throughout the world use social media, including celebrities, world leaders, and professionals. Social media services were used to disseminate information and find humor and distraction from the pandemic through internetmemes (Nisar & Shafiq, 2019; Vincent et al., 2020). However, social distancing has forced a lifestyle change and put pressure on mental health for many people (Coroiu et al., 2020; Hwang et al., 2020; Son et al., 2020; Vos, 2020). Many online counseling services that use social media were created and gained popularity because they could do it safely and connectpsychiatrists with those who need them (Ahmad & Murad, 2020).

Direct access to content through platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Telegram, and others leaves users vulnerable to rumors and questionable information (Bavel et al., 2020). Information can strongly influence individual behavior, limit group cohesion, and thus the effectiveness of government countermeasures against the virus (Ahmad & Murad, 2020; Bavel et al., 2020). Politicians and health organizations at the federal and state levels share information quickly and reach many people using the platforms (Hamzah et al., 2020; Kearney et al., 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a flood of misinformation and fake news being created and disseminated quickly (Tagliabue et al., 2020). The current study considered “misinformation” as both incorrect information that is disseminated instinctively by those who believe the information is correct, and inaccurate information shared consciously.

During the pandemic lockdown, information overload, infodemic, cyberchondria, and fake news are reported to have a relationship with panic spreading directly or indirectly (Laato et al., 2020a, 2020b). A previous study reported that information overload leads to an increased likelihood of fake news sharing by increasing consumers’ psychological strain (Islam et al., 2020; Laato et al., 2020a, 2020b). In addition to this exposure to infodemic, knowledge can cause psychological disorders and panic, fear, depression, and fatigue (Mukhtar, 2019; Teng et al., 2020).

Nonetheless, most individuals trust social media and prefer to use social media platforms for information rather than the official EFMOH website.Currently, the usage of social media is rapidly rising among people in Ethiopia. Internet usage is strongly associated with behaviors related to health information (Lipschultz, 2020). Social media is an information vacuum; it spreads both knowledge and information at an exponential rate, which allows for information exaggeration. The negative role played by social media and the possibility ofinformation pollution have long been criticized from a variety of perspectives. The COVID-19 pandemic has focused attention in particular on the bad role played by social media and the potential for “information pollution.”

Even if social media serves a beneficial societal function in sharing critical information about the epidemic, it also serves a harmful function in increasing panic by disseminating false information. The major goal of this study was to investigate the negative impact of social media during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Methods

Study Design and Setting

The web-based cross-section study design was used in the current study. The study utilized the quantitative methodology for the collection of data from social media users in Ethiopia.

Sampling Technique

Participants’ information was collected using the method of snowball sampling. This is a type of non-probability sampling technique, in which existing subjects provide referrals to recruit samples required for a study. Since the Snowball sampling method works by starting from some initial subjects and continues to increase, for the first time we have sent around 50 individuals and five groups on social media. Within a specified time, interval (September 1st–30th, 2020), we have obtained a response from 1998 participants. Out of 1998, a completed questionnaire was obtained from 1967 with a response rate of (1967/1998) = 98.4%.

Data Collection Method

Because the Ethiopian government-enforced obligatory isolation measures at the national level and asked the population to reduce direct face-to-face interaction and separate themselves at home, we employed a web-based technique to create, disseminate, and collect data for the survey. An anonymous electronic survey was created and delivered to Ethiopians using a variety of social media platforms, including Facebook, Telegram, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and others. Social media users took part in a random online poll to investigate the effects of social media on the spread of COVID-19 panic and the impact of social media on human mental health. Some potential study participants utilize social media to invite friends, relatives, and others to take part.Data have been collected for one month between 1 September 2020 and 30 September 2020.

Tools of Data Collection

In the current study, we used a self-administered questionnaire which was created and used by Ahmad and Murad (Ahmad & Murad, 2020). The questionnaire used by this study had 4 parts. Part 1: Questions about sociodemographic variables like age, gender, marital status,religion, and education. Sociodemographic variables age in years (≤ 18, 19–30, 30–50, ≥ 51), gender (male, female), marital status (single, married, widowed, divorced), religion (Orthodox, Protestant, Muslim, Others), and education (just read and write, primary/secondary school, diploma/some certificates, bachelor degree, master’s degree, Ph.D. and above). Part 2: The question included the type of social media platforms used to obtain information regarding COVID-19 during the pandemic. Part 3: Questions about the impact of social media on spreading panic among social media users during the COVID-19 pandemic. Part 4: Questionnaire focused on COVID-19’s negative impact on participants.

Method of Statistical Data Analysis

Descriptive statistical analysis was carried out to highlight participants’ demographic features. Furthermore, the effects of social media on the propagation of fear about COVID-19 were analyzed by linear regression analysis. To examine the mean difference between the two groups, we applied an independent sample t-test and for more than two groups, we used Analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study also used Cohen’s d for comparison of mean scores. We used Chi-square to test the relationship of groups. Two-sided statistical tests were judged statistically significant with a p-value < 0.05. We performed all statistical analyses using (IBM) SPSS version 20.

Results

Demographic Profile of Respondents

Table 1 depicts the overall characteristics of the study’s participants. More than half of the 1967 respondents, 1058 (53.8%), were female, and 909 (46.2%) were male. Regarding the age of the respondents, 1146 (58.3%) were between the ages of 19 and 30, with only 36% over the age of 51 years. Of the 1967 people surveyed, 47.1% were single and 38.0% were married. Approximately half of the respondents 971 (49.4%) were members of the orthodox religion, followed by protestants 74 (37.7%), and Muslims 238 (12.1%). When it comes to the highest qualification education of respondents, the majority of respondents 37.3% (733 of them) have a bachelor’s degree.

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics study participants
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Summary of Social Media Platforms Used

The most commonly used social media platforms were Facebook 1441 (73.26%) followed by Telegram 285 (14.49%) (Table 2). Facebook is at the top because it is the most popular social media platform used everywhere in Ethiopia.

Table 2 Social media platforms are used to get news about coronavirus disease
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Summary of News Heard, Seen, or Read on Social Media Platforms

The participants also asked the type of news issuethey heard/seen/read about the most within social media in the 4 months since the outbreak began? As stated in Table 3, the highest proportion of participants 1735 (88.2%) had heard, seen, or read health news (COVID-19), while the lowest proportion of participants had heard, seen, or read miscellaneous news and cultural news 7 (0.4%) each. According to the poll findings of the 1967 participants, the COVID-19 health issue is influencing the kind of news subjects that are most widely followed on social media.

Table 3 Types of news heard, seen, or read by participants
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Figure 1 depicts the answers of 1967 participants, as well as the influence of COVID-19-related panic caused by social media. According to the pie chart, 847 (43.1%) of the participants were psychologically impacted, while 537 (27.3%) said they were impacted by all of them. A small number of people said they were physically impacted 127 (6.5%). According to the reactions of the 1967 participants, fear was largely a psychological response that could produce a loss of physical immunity, which is one of the causes of poor results when infected with COVID-19. As shown in Fig. 1, generally 86.73% of respondents experienced panic, while only 13.27% did not.

Fig. 1
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Summary of Covid-19 impacts of fear on study participants

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Information Type Shared on Social Media

To investigate the impact of social media on respondents’ panic over COVID-19, we studied and contrasted social media users’ responses to the question of which type of information has the greatest impact on causing panic on social media. “Which type of information has had the greatest impact on social media panic?” the researchers questioned the participants in this study. As indicated in Table 4, the majority of respondents 634 (32.2%) agreed that fake news regarding the COVID-19 outbreak is the most common type of material used to spread fear about the disease. Furthermore, 398 (20.2%) agreed with the “publication of images and videos of cities and countries with a high number of cases” and 397 (20.2%) confirmed “dissemination of the number of COVID-19 infections”. This means that during the crisis, bogus news and misinformation, as well as statistics like the number of incidents, have an immediate and widespread influence on people.

Table 4 Information types that are shared on social media
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Responses for COVID-19–Related Questions by Gender of Respondents

About 1517 (77.1%) of the participants thought that posting more information related to COVID-19 on social media had caused people to become fearful and panicked, whereas 253 (12.9%) did not think. The analysis showed that 1500 (76.3%) of the participants thought that, on social media pages, groups, and accounts addressing COVID-19 in Ethiopia are effective. Only 255 (13.0%) answered neutrally. The analysis showed that the participants thought that 1500 (76.3%) on social media pages, groups, and accounts addressing COVID-19 in Ethiopia are effective. Only 25 (13.0%) answered neutrally. When asked if they would share information about COVID-19 on social media, 1440 (73.2%) responded yes, of which 53.8% were females and 46.2% males, respectively. On social media platforms, the majority of the respondents 1471 (74.8%) agreed with the necessity of following a specific policy during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic while 276 (14.0%) were neutral (Table 5).

Table 5 Some questions according to the gender of participants
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According to Table 6, 751 (52%) of the 1441 Facebook users in this study were female, while 690 (48 percent) were male. The Telegram users were female (157), while the male (128). However, no male respondents mentioned LinkedIn or IMO, while only three female respondents (0.3%) mentioned each platform.

Table 6 A summary of some of the questions based on the participant’s gender and age (N = 1967)
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Furthermore, of study participants that “Health news (COVID-19)” were, N = 810 male and 925 females. Regarding “read sports news”, males and females were N = 65 and N = 75, respectively. Regarding social media platforms with age, more than half 829 (57.5%) of Facebook users were aged between 19 and 30 years. Additionally, of those that sports news, 17 (12.4%) were aged less than 18 years, 82 were aged 19–30 years, 34 were aged 31–50 and only 4 were aged 51 above. The majority of individuals who heard/saw/read about health news on social media (COVID-19) were aged 19–30 years, with 1012 (58.3%) followed by ages of 31–50 years with (27.5%).

Association of Between Impact of COVID-19 and Variables Gender, Marital Status, and Age

The Chi-squared test of association revealed a significant relationship between gender, marital status, and age in terms of impact fear of COVID-19 (Table 7). The majority of respondents, 887 (43.11%) were psychologically affected, while the number of physically affected people was 127 (6.5%), which was the lowest. The influence of social media panic about COVID-19 was shown to be significantly related to the respondents’ gender (p-value = 0.004). Female respondents were much more mentally affected than male respondents. Psychological effects were most common among respondents aged 19–30 years 511 (60.3%), with respondents aged ≥ 51 yearshaving the least effect (p < 0.001). About 261 (13.3%) of the respondents said that spreading panic on social media had little effect on them, hence they were unconcerned about COVID-19. In comparison to other respondents, respondents aged ≥ 51 years reported lower fear of COVID-19. A significant association was observed between the impacts of social media panic about COVID-19 with the age group of the respondents (p < 0.001). Answers of the respondents revealed that most respondents face psychological fear that leads to decreasing body immunity when infected with the coronavirus.

Table 7 The Chi-squared (χ2) test of association for the variable impact of fear with gender, marital status, and age
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A Comparison of the Mean forCOVID-19–Related Questions Gender of Respondents

Participants were asked if they think that publishing more news related to COVID-19 on social media has spread fear and panic among people (Question3). Since the Cohen’s d statistic showed positive values, hence the second group (Female) higher mean value. Therefore, females were more likely than males to support this idea. Similarly, the Cohen’s d values for Question 4 are positive, females were more likely to think that the social media pages, groups, and accounts addressing COVID-19 in Ethiopia are effective, as compared to males. Moreover, ascompared to males, females had a higher mean scoreon sharing any COVID-19-related information or news on social media (Question 5). Females believed that filters for social media should be set up, and a special strategy should be followed during humanitarian emergencies like the spread of COVID-19 (Table 8).

Table 8 Cohen’s d for comparison of meanscores for COVID-19–related questions by gender
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Effect of Social Media on Spreading Panic among Respondents during COVID-19 Pandemic

This section examined the negative effects (panic/care) of the pandemics COVID-19 obtaining, reading, and sharing. This negative effect (panic/worry) has been evaluated based on how frequently respondents think about the pandemic, social media reading, and dread of COVID-19, as demonstrated in Table 9. The most commonly agreed item was “I panic about contacting the infection by my reading on the social media” (mean = 4.39, SD = 0.745) while the smaller mean scores were item five, “I often do not have the thought of an infection fraud COVID-19 I post on the social media” (m = 3.56, SD = 0.920) (Table 9).

Table 9 Negative impact of sharing COVID-19 pandemic news
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The effect of the social media variable was found to be statistically significant at a 5% level of significance (P-value ≤ 0.001). Results further demonstrate that the statistical association between social media and the spread of panic about COVID-19 is positive. The total variation was found to be (R2 = 0.539, 53.9%), which points out that 53.9% of the variation in spreading panic regarding COVID-19 has been explained by the social media variable, and the other variables (26.1%) are due to random error (Table 10). This result reveals that 53.9% of the factors that affect the spreading of panic regarding COVID-19 are related to social media.

Table 10 Model summary and ANOVA results
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Discussion

During a pandemic outbreak, the spread of inaccurate information on social media significantly contributed to mental health issues (Zarocostas, 2020). An infodemicis also defined as “false or inaccurate information, especially that which is deliberately intended to deceive” (Lazer et al., 2018). Furthermore, information overload and fake news about the pandemic have a significant impact on people all over the world. Since the widespread and repeated dissemination of unauthenticated and sometimes dangerously incorrect information has had disastrous consequences. As a result of misinformation, people have died (for example, in Iran from the consumption of large amounts of alcohol, and in the USA by taking antimalarial for disease prophylaxis) (Hickok, 2020). COVID-19 has resulted in increased discrimination and racism, primarily among Asians and Africans (Tanaka et al., 2020).

This study looked at the negative impact of social media on spreading concern about the coronavirus outbreak by using data from social media users in an online poll. According to the current study’s findings, social media played a significant influence in influencing responders during the COVID-19 epidemic. A small percentage of the participants within the current study failed to experience fear or panic during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, while more than three forth where experienced panic. This is consistent with previous study findings from Iraq (Ahmad & Murad, 2020; Radwan et al., 2021).

A study from Gaza Strip, Palestine by Radwan et al. (2021) reported that Facebook is the most commonly used social media platform. Similarly, our study revealed that Facebook was the most popular social media for getting more information about COVID-19 news. Furthermore, another study from Iraq found that Facebook was the most popular platform, with more than a third of those surveyed spending two up to four hours each day on it (Arafat et al., 2020). Because Facebook is the most extensively used social media network in Ethiopia, it is placed first. This could be because it can be accessed using existing software rather than cellphones, computers, or other devices. As a result, it has become a popular mode of communication and information collection on health and science-related topics (Hargittai et al., 2018; Radwan et al., 2021). At the time of the COVID-19 lockdown, internet users turned to social media, notably Facebook, for a variety of reasons, including communicating with friends, families, as well as staying informed on the COVID-19 outbreak in their countries (Ahmad & Murad, 2020; Brindha et al., 2020; Ohme et al., 2020; Raamkumar et al., 2020; Radwan et al., 2021).

Females make up more than half of Facebook users, according to the findings. This suggests that females were more likely than males to utilize Facebook to stay up to date on COVID-19 news. This result matched the findings of Biernatowska et al. (2017) which found that females were more likely than males to use Facebook and see it as an important part of their lives. This might be because Facebook allows users to publish extensive and full-text posts regarding COVID-19. Some males, particularly those with limited time, may avoid using it to preserve time for other duties.

According to the current study, bogus news on the COVID-19 outbreak is the most popular sort of material used to generate panic about the disease. The current findings also suggest that participants believe that spreading more COVID-19–related news on social media has promoted fear and terror among the respondents. Females were much more inclined to support this viewpoint than males. This is in line with a prior study that found the COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on the most popular news on social media sites. Health News (COVID-19) was the most read/seen/heard news by the respondents, whether real or false medical (Ahmad & Murad, 2020; Park et al., 2020). This could be due to a desire to be updated about all facets of the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on various aspects of life. On social media platforms, filters need to be set up for social media and a specific policy followed during humanitarian crises such as the spread of COVID-19. Similar studies reported that preventing the spread of fake news, filtering social media content, and adhering to proper policies are all necessary processes for controlling the detrimental impact of fake news and disinformation on people’s public health (Ahmad & Murad, 2020; Arafat et al., 2020; Radwan et al., 2021).

The study revealed that the majority of the fear among respondents was largely psychologicalwhereas a few respondents said they were physically affected. Respondents became more exposed to reading, hearing, or watching news linked to the COVID-19 as their time spent on social media increased, and as a result, they were psychologically affected. Several studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemicreported similar results (Ahmad & Murad, 2020; Fekih-Romdhane et al., 2020; Lee et al., 2020; Stainback et al., 2020). In the current study,a large number of participantswere psychologically affected, and nearly half of them are females. This indicates that female respondents were psychologically affected significantly more than males. The study’s findings also revealed a statistically significant link between fear’s effects and gender. This result supports the previous studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which found that females had much higher levels of despair, fear, and anxiety than males (Evren et al., 2020; Fekih-Romdhane et al., 2020; Hou et al., 2020; Radwan et al., 2021; Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al., 2020; Stainback et al., 2020). This could be because women express emotions more than men, and the COVID-19 epidemic may have exacerbated the problem (Hou et al., 2020). The results also showed that there is a significant association between the impact of fear and the age group of respondents. The findings suggested that psychological impacts were more common in elderly people than in children. The older responders are more worried and depressed than the younger ones (Ahmad & Murad, 2020; Gao et al., 2020; Hwang et al., 2020; Lee et al., 2020; Radwan et al., 2021). This could be because they are anxious for a variety of reasons, including their dread of being infected by the coronavirus. Worry was found to be more common in elderly people than in children, owing to the existence of numerous physical and emotional changes that could contribute to anxiety development (Radwan et al., 2021).

Furthermore, the result from regression analysissuggested thatsocial media and spreading panic about the COVID-19 pandemic have a substantial positive correlation. According to the study, respondents have a problem with social media dependency, being unable to distinguish which material on social media is trustworthy, and which is fake news and rumors about the COVID-19 epidemic. Fear, panic, anxiety, and despair are all increased in respondents because of these activities.

A previous study reported that panic caused by the dissemination of knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic on social media spreads quicker than the virus itself (Ahmad & Murad, 2020; Radwan et al., 2021). Another study (Mertens et al., 2020) discovered that higher exposure to COVID-19 misinformation on social media increases panic and fear. The significance of social media during the COVID-19 epidemic was underlined by Odriozola-González et al. (2020). They stated that social media has both a positive and negative impact; proper use of social media platforms can aid in the rapid dissemination of trusted information, sharing possible treatments, avoiding infection, quarantine measurements, and follow-up protocols for both suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases. On the other hand, the use of social media platforms to promote fake news, misinformation, rumors, myths, and pessimistic information about quarantine states has serious implications, resulting in individuals’ mental health being destroyed.

Limitations and Strengths of the Study

The current study tried to assess the impact of social media during the COVID-19 lockdown in Ethiopia. Some limitations while conducting this study are: first, a causal relationship cannot be proved in this cross-sectional study. Second, we conducted the self-reported questionnaire, which might contribute to some amount of answer bias. In addition to the variables,we addressed there may be other factors that were related to the panic among respondents, which require further study. Despite this limitation, the strength of the current study is that it is among a very few studies in developing countries which wasdone on a timely issue and conducted during that such difficult time.

Conclusion

A current study shows that social media has a substantial effect on the spreading of panic among responder people about the COVID-19 pandemic, with a possible harmful impact on their psychological and mental health. This study also indicated a significant positive association between social media and the spread of COVID-19 fear. During the lockdown, respondents used social media to interact with their friends as well as to learn about and be informed about the COVID-19 epidemic. The study suggested that the influence of social media on respondents’ terror levels varies based on their age and gender. Government and concerned bodies should collaborate to offer people reliable COVID-19 resources and timely advice. It is also recommended that the government take action to punish people with huge followings who spread unsupported notions to the general population. We can safeguard people from this new virus and lessen its detrimental effects on their health in addition to taking preventive measures. These findings may help policymakers reduce concern among participants because of the COVID-19 outbreak.