IJCRRI Journ Cur Res ReInternational Journal of Current Research and ReviewI Journ Cur Res Re2231-21960975-5241Radiance Research Academy2955 http://dx.doi.org/10.31782/IJCRR.2020.SP08HealthcareAwareness on Spread of Misinformation and its Effect on Public with Regard to COVID-19 RamasubramanianSwethaSPreethaPremavathyDineshPrathapLavanyawarenessAmediaSocialCoronavirusMisinformationPandemicnewsFake20102020ti-b6673This article is copyright of Popeye Publishing, 20092009This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) Licence. You may share and adapt the material, but must give appropriate credit to the source, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if changes were made.

Introduction: Misinformation can amplify humanity__ampersandsignrsquo;s greatest challenges. A salient example of this is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has spread a wide range of falsehoods even as truth has more and more turned into a matter of life and death. In the current study, the aim is to analyze the effect of social media on the public with regard to COVID-19. Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted among 100 participants [79 male, 21 female]. 13 questions were circulated through online Google forms via WhatsApp platform. Responses were collected and verified. Result: On analyzing the data majority of the participants used WhatsApp and Facebook for news updates regarding COVID-19, 46% were aware of authentic websites to cross-check the news and 77% of the participants agreed that they get disturbed with a lot of information related to COVID-19. Conclusion: Thus we conclude that strict measures must be taken to prevent the spread of misinformation and to avoid mental health problems.

Awareness Social media Coronavirus Misinformation Pandemic Fake news