The Role of Social Media in the Growth of Social Cohesion in the Post-Pandemic Era

Abstract

The global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused turmoil in all sector of life. Some of these turmoil related to health, socio-economic, psychosocial, demographic and political aspects. This brought almost all people in various countries to a global emergency. The pandemic has made all people in the world experience disparities, substantive changes and inequalities which lead to uncertainty about welfare and vulnerability to poverty which has the potential to undermine social cohesion. Social cohesion was the connectedness between people, groups of people or communities in feeling connected to one another. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of social media in the growth of social cohesion, the positive and negative impacts of social media on the growth of social cohesion and efforts to minimize the negative impacts of social media on the growth of social cohesion. The approach in this study used a type of literature study or literature research. Literature study could be reached by collecting references consisting of several previous studies which were then compiled to draw conclusions. The results of this research showed that social media has revolutionized the way people communicated, connected, and shared information. For generation Z and millennials, social media platforms have become an inseparable part of their daily life. Social media offers tremendous potential for driving social cohesion among diverse communities, as it provided opportunities to communicate, engage with one another, and collaborate across geographic and cultural boundaries. This research were examine the role of social media in fostering social cohesion in the post-pandemic era. On the other hand, the increased use of social media has in fact resulted in the spread of disinformation which has negative implications for achieving social cohesion.