Due to the pandemic, what effect has the internet had on

people’s perceptions of this events in our society

Rolan Alapad

Larwen Manzo

Jervin Josh Pornasdoro Paz

Chapter 1
 THE PROBLEM AND IT’S BACKGROUND

Introduction

In late December 2019, Chinese health authorities reported an

outbreak of pneumonia of unknown origin in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

This novel coronavirus was provisionally named 2019-nCoV, now

SARS-CoV-2 according to the Coronavirus Study Group of the

International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. SARS-CoV-2

belongs to the Coronaviridae family, Betacoronavirus genus, subgenus

Sarbecovirus. Since its discovery, the virus has spread globally,

causing thousands of deaths and having an enormous impact on our

health systems and economies. The aim of this study is to determine

how the internet affects self-reported mental health and the spread of

panic about COVID-19During lockdown, people are using social media

platforms to gain information about COVID-19. The nature of the

impact of social media panic among people varies depending on an

individual’s gender, age, and level of education. Social media has

played a key role in spreading anxiety about the COVID-19 outbreak.

The World Health Organization has declared the rapid spread of

COVID-19 around the world a global public health emergency. It is

well-known that the spread of the disease is influenced by people’s

willingness to adopt preventative public health behaviors, which are

often associated with public risk perception. In this study, we present

the first assessment of public risk perception of COVID-19 around the

world using national samples (total N = 6,991) in ten countries across

Europe, America, and Asia. We find that although levels of concern are

relatively high, they are highest in the UK compared to all other

sampled countries. Pooled across countries, personal experience with

the virus, individualistic and prosocial values, hearing about the virus

from friends and family, trust in government, science, and medical

professionals, personal knowledge of government strategy, and

personal and collective efficacy were all significant predictors of risk

perception. Although there was substantial variability across cultures,

individualistic worldviews, personal experience, prosocial values, and

social amplification through friends and family in particular were found

to be significant determinants in more than half of the countries

examined. Risk perception correlated significantly with reported

Implications for effective risk communication are discussed.

COVID-19 pandemic is devastating the health, social, and economic

well-being of citizens worldwide. The high rates of morbidity and

mortality and the absence of vaccines cause fear among the people

regardless of age, gender, or social status. People’s fear is heightened

by misinformation spread across all media types, especially on social

media. Filipino college students are one of the top Internet users

worldwide and are very active in social media.

The majority were inclined to believe the myths and misinformation

regarding the pandemic. Television was the primary, most believable,

and preferred source when seeking information. The Internet as a

preferred source of information was significantly associated with a high

level of knowledge. In contrast, the information sourced from

interpersonal channels were found to make college students very

cautious. The local presence of COVID-19 cases had caused college

students to fear, likely exacerbated by the plethora of information

about the pandemic, mostly from Facebook.

The Social Exchange Theory suggests that we choose to communicate

through a context of rewards and costs. According to the paper,

Microchannels and CMC: Short Paths to Developing, Maintaining and

Dissolving Relationships (co-written by my professor Lou Heldman),

“Key concepts of social exchange theory include reciprocity, fairness

and negotiated rules, with information, approval, respect, power,

group gain and personal satisfaction among the rewards in successful

transactions.”

The Social Penetration Theory suggests that relationships become

more intimate over a period of time when more personal information is

revealed; this is he evident in Twitter relationships. Millions of

friendships have formed from “tweet-ups” or a friend request. A

person may start to follow you, but constant and direct interaction will

lead to more intimate friendships that go beyond the computer or cell

phone. Maintaining relationships also relies on intimate exchanges by

both parties.
To go along with Social Penetration Theory, the Strong and Weak Ties

Theory suggests that you can have varying relationship levels based

on time, emotional intensity, intimacy and reciprocal service. The

strongest relationships will keep a person connected to the people they

are most connected to, their nuclear family, if you will. The weaker

connections still serve an important purpose because although you do

not know them personally, they help you connect to another part of

the world that you may not be aware of.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Internet People’s Perception

Figure 1: Research Paradigm representing the connection between the

Independent and Dependent Variable

The graphic organizer above shows the relationship between the

internet and people perceptions about the effect of the pandemic in

our society
 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This research will gather information about the leading events in our

society and find out what people’s perception about it

The goal of this research is to find an answer to the following question:

1. What are the demographic profile of the respondents

2. What are the perception of this people about the leading events

in our society before and during the pandemic?

3. Is there a significant difference of people’s perception about the

leading events in our society before and during the pandemic?

NULL HYPOTHESIS

There is no significant difference between people’s perception about

the leading events in our society before and during the pandemic?
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study aimed to provide valuable information on what effect has

the internet had on people’s perception of this pandemic in our society.

The following will be the beneficiaries of the study.

For the future studies. The findings in this study will aid other studies

with correlation to the pandemic in the future. Hopefully, the data

gathered will be of use for other researchers.

For the natives. The conclusions that will be made from this study will

have a great impact to locals especially those with limited sources of

information in remote areas. It will give them insights to survive this

pandemic.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Pandemics – is a disease outbreak that spans several countries and

affects a large number of people. Pandemics are most often caused by

spread from person to person.

Internet – provides a capability so powerful and general that it can be

used for almost any purpose that depends on information, and it is

accessible by every individual who connects to one of its constituent

networks. It supports human communication via social media,

electronic mail (e-mail), “chat rooms,” newsgroups, and audio and

video transmission and allows people to work collaboratively at many

different locations. It supports access to digital information by many

applications, including the World Wide Web. The Internet has proved

to be a spawning ground for a large and growing number of

“ebusinesses” (including subsidiaries of traditional “brick-and-mortar”

companies) that carry out most of their sales and services over the

Internet.

Perception - is the organization, identification, and interpretation of

sensory information in order to represent and understand the

presented information or environment. All perception involves signals

that go through the nervous system, which in turn result from physical

or chemical stimulation of the sensory system.

other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing

the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same

political authority and dominant cultural expectations.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

This study is primarily focused on what effect has the internet had on

people’s perceptions of this events in our society. The respondents of

the study is the residents of Barangay San Roque Calatrava Romblon.

This study was conducted during the school year 2021-2022