This study has the following specific objectives:
To assess the rate of awareness of youths of COVID-19 in the UAE.
To assess the prevalence/extent of social media use among youths during the COVID-19 period.
To assess the extent of misinformation about COVID-19 circulating during the COVID-19 period.
To suggest strategies to curb/minimize the spread of misinformation about COVID-19.
This study poses the following research questions:
What is the rate of awareness of youths in the UAE of COVID-19?
What is the extent of social media use circulate information about COVID-19.
What is the rate of misinformation about COVID-19?
This study uses the following hypotheses:
There is no significant difference in the level of awareness of COVID-19 among youths.
There is no significant difference in the awareness level of COVID-19 between those who use social media and those who did not.
There is no significant difference in the level of awareness of COVID-19 among the users of several social media platforms.
There is no significant difference in the level of awareness of COVID-19 among youths from different Emirates.
There is no significant relationship between the level of awareness of COVID-19 and social media use.
There is no significant difference in the level of awareness of COVID-19 between male and female social media users.
There is no significant correlation between socio-demographic characteristics and usage of social media among youths.
There is no significant correlation between socio-demographic characteristics and youths’ trust and belief in social media.
There is no significant difference in the level of trust in social media between male and female respondents.
There is no significant difference in the level of trust in social media between younger and older respondents.
There is no significant effect of respondents’ socio demographic characteristics on usage of social media during COVID-19.