Abstract
Recent cases of misinformation and fake claims spread on social media during the crisis of COVID-19 resulted in use of term ‘Infodemics’ while addressing the kind of role social media users across the world played in health communication. Thus, it becomes pertinent to introspect the pattern in which information is accessed, evaluated and shared on these platforms, especially during a public health crisis. The current study tried to analyse the level of media literacy of 100 Facebook users and 102 Twitter users in India by evaluating and comparing their posts during two lockdown periods with reference to credibility of information and sources, myths about COVID-19 and the manner of presenting their point. It was found that while both of these social media platforms provide a scope for diverse opinion and information, Facebook, more than Twitter contains the risk of propagating conflict oriented manipulated information from unverified sources that is sufficient to create hinderance in the communication policy of health makers.
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References
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