Title: Benefits and challenges of social networking during COVID-19: personal perspective

Authors: Tomayess Issa; Mohammed Al Jaafari; Abdullah Salem Alqahtani; Sulaiman Alqahtani; Theodora Issa; Lydia Maketo; Sumaiya Pervaiz

Addresses: School of Management, Curtin University, Perth Western, Australia ' School of Management, Curtin University, Perth Western, Australia ' School of Management, Curtin University, Perth Western, Australia ' School of Management, Curtin University, Perth Western, Australia ' School of Management, Curtin University, Perth Western, Australia ' School of Management, Curtin University, Perth Western, Australia ' School of Management, Curtin University, Perth Western, Australia

Abstract: In December 2019, our lives changed forever, as a new virus named COVID-19, disrupted the lives of people worldwide. The spread of this virus has had critical effects on people's health and social interactions, security and national, the economy, and individual attitudes, activities, manners, and behaviour. This dire situation called for governments world-wide to adopt various strategies to contain the spread of the virus and minimise its negative impacts on individuals, communities, and nations. People were asked to self-isolate to avoid contagion and, within a matter of weeks, many began working from home. People started to use sophisticated social networking (SN) applications to communicate, collaborate, connect, and cooperate to exchange information, ideas, keep fit while confined at home, and obtain news about the spread of COVID-19 world-wide. This paper will present an individual perspective on SN during the COVID-19 period, examining and discussing the benefits and challenges associated with SN.

Keywords: COVID-19; social networking; benefits and challenges; personal perspective.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWBC.2021.114446

International Journal of Web Based Communities, 2021 Vol.17 No.2, pp.135 - 148

Received: 17 May 2020
Accepted: 19 May 2020
Published online: 22 Apr 2021 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article