Chapter 6: Global Culture, Power, and Health Communication: India Fights Corona on the Battlefield of Social Media Platforms

COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lead to a massive eruption of communication across social media platforms in addition to spreading infection. This surge in communication pertained to health systems, capability of different governments^∗ in handling the surge of cases and impact on immunity systems (Wang et al., 2021). This exponential spread of SARS-CoV-2 triggered online platforms with a massive number of posts and comments creating variety of reactions leading to constant communication between government agencies and stakeholders at all levels (Shimizu, 2020).

Analyzing social media platforms, we found that Twitter, the largest microblogging platform globally, played a vital role specifically in communicating SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 information. The World Health Organization (WHO) and other state agencies who were focused on tracking and controlling this COVID-19 upsurge constantly published content through their Twitter accounts regarding disease related issues and solutions. This information also included propagation of individual's protective measures and actions to diminish the spread such as social distancing, wearing marks, teleworking, and sanitizing frequently (Wang et al., 2021).