A narrative inquiry on the role of the internet and social media in mediating anxiety among undergraduates during peak of the Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria

Abstract

The social media and other internet related sources of unverified and unregulated information contributed adversely to heightened anxiety experienced by many Nigerians during the peak of the Coronavirus pandemic in the country. This research is a qualitative narrative inquiry into the impact of the internet and social media on anxiety among Ebonyi State University students during the peak of the Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria. 50 undergraduates of Ebonyi State University were selected through snowball sampling. Using narrative interviewing the study collected qualitative evidence regarding how the participants were affected by the information they received from the internet and social media about the Coronavirus disease.  Narrative analysis suggests that the internet and social media peddled unregulated information and gory images which instilled and mediated fear, panic and anxiety in the lives of the participants. Such evidence resonate the growing concern about the undue influence of the social media and internet in mediating negative tendencies around the world when they are wrongly used. The study concludes that the mental health and psychological wellbeing of the participants were threatened by the kind of information they consumed from the internet and social media platforms such as Facebook, Whatsapp, twitter, Instagram and others. These social media platforms disseminated unfounded scary and gory images, videos and texts messages during the peak of the pandemic in Nigeria which negatively affected and distorted wellbeing and mental health of many individuals. We recommend that perilous periods as those of pandemics require calm, constructive and regulated information dissemination pathways.