Sosyal medya kullanıcıları pandeminin başlangıcından itibaren COVID-19’a ilişkin vaka ve ölüm sayıları, virüs kaynağı, aşı geliştirme süreci, hastalık semptomları, bulaş yolları, önleme ve tedavi yöntemleri hakkında haberlerle bombardımana tutulmuştur. Bu çalışma, haber kaynaklarının türü ve haberlerin doğrulanmasının önemli olduğu ve bunların kaygı düzeyi ile COVID-19 hastalığı kontrol algısını etkilediği düşünülerek planlanmıştır. Farklı sosyal medya hesaplarına (resmi veya resmi olmayan) güvenmenin, sosyal medya paylaşımlarını diğer haber kaynakları ile doğrulamanın, olumsuz COVID-19 sosyal medya içeriklerine maruz kalma sıklığının bu durumu etkileyebileceği düşünülmektedir. Çalışmanın amacı, bu üç değişkenin katılımcıların anksiyete düzeyi ve COVID-19 hastalığı kontrol algısı üzerindeki etkilerini ortaya çıkarmaktır.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, social media users have been bombarded with news about the number of cases and deaths, virus origin, vaccine development process, symptoms, transmission ways, prevention and treatment methods of COVID-19. This study was planned considering that the type of news sources and verification of the news was considerable and these affect the anxiety level and COVID-19 disease control perception. It was considered that reliance on different types of social media accounts (official or unofficial), verifying social media posts with other news sources, frequency of exposure to negative COVID-19 social media contents may have effects on this state. The aim of this study was to reveal the effects of these three variables on anxiety level and COVID-19 disease control perception of participants. METHODS: The sample consisted of 1516 adults. An online survey was used to minimize face to face interactions and to facilitate participation during this emergency period. Participants filled out instruments for sociodemographic data, verification/trust on posts of official/unofficial social media accounts, state anxiety, COVID-19 disease control perception, frequency of exposure to positive/negative COVID-19 social media contents. RESULTS: It was detected that as trust in COVID-19 posts of official social media accounts increased, anxiety level decreased and COVID-19 disease control perception increased. It was observed that as exposure to negative COVID-19 social media contents increased, anxiety level increased and COVID-19 disease control perception decreased. There was no significant correlation between anxiety level and verifying the accuracy of social media posts with other news sources. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: While physical contact accelerates the spread of COVID-19 disease, it was thought that digital contact could be a tool that could decelerate individual and mass anxiety if used appropriately. It is obvious that posts that are reliable and verified will play a key role in controlling anxiety level and disease perception.