Perceived Impact of Social Media on Panic Buying: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Social media has an impact on panic buying by creating fear, disseminating pictures, and videos of people purchasing extra goods in a state of panic during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to evaluate the perceived impact of social media on panic buying behaviors in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. This cross-sectional survey was conducted from October 10 to November 25, 2020.

The Impact of Social Media on Panic During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iraqi Kurdistan: Online Questionnaire Study.

Background: In the first few months of 2020, information and news reports about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were rapidly published and shared on social media and social networking sites. While the field of infodemiology has studied information patterns on the Web and in social media for at least 18 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has been referred to as the first social media infodemic. However, there is limited evidence about whether and how the social media infodemic has spread panic and affected the mental health of social media users.