Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the social media usage among different age groups in Hyderabad, India: A questionnaire-based community Study

The emergence and rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 across the globe has caused a state of panic and chaos. Self-quarantine and lockdowns have been implemented in many countries leaving the public homebound. On one hand social media being a prime source of information, it could have a substantial contribution in causing unnecessary apprehension and fear in the public due to the speculations and misinformation, while on the other hand the unexpected event of lockdown resulted in a spurt of social media usage. The adverse effect of social media on psychological well-being, academic performance, socializing skills, interpersonal relationship and parenting were recorded by a number of studies in the past. It is imperative to be mindful of the content being watched and the time spent on social media. The study aims to understand the variation in social media usage in different age groups in the people of Hyderabad, India due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was conducted through a questionnaire that was created using Google forms. The study shows that the social media usage has significantly increased in the people of Hyderabad, India during the COVID-19 lockdown. The data shows a correlation between the age groups and variation in social media usage. The increased social media usage is more in the younger age groups below 25 years. The study proves no impact of social media usage on productivity during the quarantin