The Impact of the COVID-19 “Infodemic” on Well-Being: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

To the best of our knowledge, this research is one of the earliest to investigate social media practices during the pandemic and their possible impact on well-being using the WHO-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5) score. Results from an online study distributed in the United Arab Emirates and other Arabic speaking countries through SurveyMonkey has revealed a potentially negative relationship between social media use and general well-being, with most participants scoring “poor” well-being. The study findings indicate that people are using social media to access and share information related to COVID-19, claiming that they verify the information before sharing. This study highlights the possible effect of social media on well-being during this pandemic and other future crises. Therefore, global and local health authorities should be better equipped with strategies and interventions to tackle these issues in the future. However, further studies, including control group will be needed to investigate how social media practices directly impact well-being.