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What is COVID-19 doing to social media?

As we all know, the coronavirus pandemic has already changed so much about our world. Airports and city centres are as deserted as the supermarket queues are long. Considerable damage has been done to our societies and economies, while the mounting numbers of deaths serve as a graphic reminder of the outbreak’s tragic toll.

There has been nothing ‘good’ about COVID-19. However, there is no doubt that much of what we have become accustomed to has been forced to change in a short period of time.

This has certainly been the case with social media. We don’t merely seem to be using it a lot more as many of us are left stuck in our homes, refreshing our feeds to discover the latest news about the virus’s impact on our families and communities. That’s because we’ve also seen various changes that probably won’t be reversed even once the worst of the pandemic is over.

Here are just a few of those changes we have already observed.

Familiar platforms see heightened use, while new stars emerge

Granted – a lot of what we ‘know’ about COVID-19’s impact on different social networks is merely anecdotal. After all, it’s only been a month or so since the virus really began to make its impact felt in the West, to the extent of whole economies having to be more-or-less shut down.

Nonetheless, reports have already filtered through of heightened use of Twitter and Instagram Stories, and altered use of Facebook. The latter, for example, has become more dominated by interactive content such as workouts, challenges and live streams (we bet a few of you reading this have watched your first ever live concert from home via social media since the coronavirus started).

We’re also, though, seeing some less mainstream platforms emerge as major social destinations beyond the niche audiences they may have previously commanded, such as Twitch and Zoom.

Celebrities are reaching out, as misinformation terrifies us

Another thing that you might have spent a lot of time doing on social media since the COVID-19 disruption started, is keeping up with how your favourite celebrities have been coping with the widespread lockdowns.  

While the longstanding mystique of celebrity might have taken a battering in recent weeks, we now know much more about how tidy various pop and movie stars keep their bookshelves and home recording studios. And on a more serious note, we have also followed the recoveries of celebrities who have actually been infected with the virus, such as Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Idris Elba.

Unfortunately, though, COVID-19 has also provided scope for the widespread dissemination of ‘fake news’ about the virus. That’s all the more reason for us all to double-check and triple-check any eye-catching claims we may see on social media, by consulting reputable sources.

Where does all of this leave your brand?

Understandably, you may presently be asking yourself whether you should be ploughing much of your organisation’s money into social media marketing. But if anything, now is actually the time to maintain or even ramp up your firm’s social media efforts, instead of stepping back.

After all, with so many people now at home and continually checking for the latest social media updates, any fall in your competitors’ activities on popular networks like Facebook and Twitter might actually make it easier, rather than harder, for you to cut through and make an impact.

So, don’t put your social media content marketing on the back-burner at the very time it could stand to put you in a particularly strong position! Instead, get in touch with the Webahead Internet team now, by calling 01325 582112 or sending us an email.  

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