THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF EDO STATE

This study examined the Impact of Social Media on COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria citing Edo State as its case study. Social media is fundamental in the dissemination of information about the deadly coronavirus as it has always been with several other phenomena. From the city of Wuhan, China, the deadly pandemic brought huge devastation to the international community. In the wake of this, Edo State which is one of Nigeria’s states isn’t spared as the visibility of the spread called for precautionary measures. To further understand the impact or role of social media, the study keenly adopted both primary and secondary sources of data. In the primary source, the quantitative methodology was adopted with questionnaires issued to respondents in both Ekpoma, Auchi and Oredo to make up for the three Senatorial Districts in the State. While secondary data such as newspapers, magazines, texts, the internets was employed for historical analysis. The findings of the study showed that the social media was instrumental in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in Edo State showing a positive relationship between the variables. Finally, the study recommended the importance of government assistance in boosting the position of technology in Edo State and Nigeria at large