Awareness and Coping: Utilizing Social Media Platforms Effectively for College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Considering the prevalence of mental health disorders among young people, it makes sense that college students have been experiencing a further decline in their mental health because of the pandemic. With the nature of lockdown, isolation and quarantine procedures, young people are finding themselves away from friends and others their own age. Social interactions are particularly important for college students, exacerbating feelings of loneliness they may now be feeling. Black students and other minority students have been the recipients of discrimination and segregation, health disparities, and employment complications over time. Now that the world is exposed to a newly developed infectious virus, it makes it extremely difficult for them to live day to day. Their social interactions are particularly limited. They turn to social media to keep in touch with their friends and loved ones. This paper addresses how the pandemic has impacted college students and suggests specific ways that social media can be utilized to raise awareness of the disease and help students cope with the changes in their lives.