Social media (SM), such as Facebook Twitter, and Instagram, play a critical role for the rapid dissemination of information of COVID-19. The disseminated COVID-19 information might cause depression. This study examined three types of social media use (SMU): Total SM usage time (TSMU), passive SMU(PSMU), active SMU(ASMU) and investigated the relationships among three type of SMU and depression. A sample of 1,019 adults was recruited in Taiwan for this study. The measures applied in this study were social media use survey and the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The analytical results showed that, the correlations of TSMU-depression, PSMU--depression, ASMU-depression were .016, .103, and .380, respectively. The correlation between age and depression was weak (r = -.068). Besides, no significant differences were found on depression scores between genders (t=1.495, p=.135) and education levels (F=0.215, p=.807). This study found that the correlation between ASMU and depression was much stronger than those of PSMU and TSMU. Compared to PSMU, ASMU is more likely to be immersed in depression due to its continuous exposure to COVID-19 news.

Authors:
Sen-chi Yu, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan
Yi-Jung Lee, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan
Hsiao-Pei Chang, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan
Meng-En Yu, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan
Zhi-Fang Sung, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Sen-chi Yu is a University Professor/Principal Lecturer at National Taichung University of Education in Taiwan

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