Background Considerable research has been devoted to examining the mental health conditions of patients with COVID-19 and medical staff attending to these patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are few insights concerning how the pandemic may take a toll on the mental health of the general population, and especially of nonpatients (ie, individuals who have not contracted COVID-19). Objective This study aimed to investigate the association between social media use and mental health conditions in the general population based on a national representative sample during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Methods We formed a national representative sample (N=2185) comprising participants from 30 provinces across China, who were the first to experience the COVID-19 outbreak in the world. We administered a web-based survey to these participants to analyze social media use, health information support received via social media, and possible psychiatric disorders, including secondary traumatic stress (STS) and vicarious trauma (VT). Results Social media use did not cause mental health issues, but it mediated the levels of traumatic emotions among nonpatients. Participants received health information support via social media, but excessive social media use led to elevated levels of stress (β=.175; P<.001), anxiety (β=.224; P<.001), depression (β=.201; P<.001), STS (β=.307; P<.001), and VT (β=.688; P<.001). Geographic location (or geolocation) and lockdown conditions also contributed to more instances of traumatic disorders. Participants living in big cities were more stressed than those living in rural areas (P=.02). Furthermore, participants from small cities or towns were more anxious (P=.01), stressed (P<.001), and depressed (P=.008) than those from rural areas. Obtaining more informational support (β=.165; P<.001) and emotional support (β=.144; P<.001) via social media increased their VT levels. Peer support received via social media increased both VT (β=.332; P<.001) and STS (β=.130; P<.001) levels. Moreover, geolocation moderated the relationships between emotional support on social media and VT (F2=3.549; P=.029) and the association between peer support and STS (F2=5.059; P=.006). Geolocation also interacted with health information support in predicting STS (F2=5.093; P=.006). Conclusions COVID-19 has taken a severe toll on the mental health of the general population, including individuals who have no history of psychiatric disorders or coronavirus infection. This study contributes to the literature by establishing the association between social media use and psychiatric disorders among the general public during the COVID-19 outbreak. The study findings suggest that the causes of such psychiatric disorders are complex and multifactorial, and social media use is a potential factor. The findings also highlight the experiences of people in China and can help global citizens and health policymakers to mitigate the effects of psychiatric disorders during this and other public health crises, which should be regarded as a key component of a global pandemic response.

The Covid pandemic had turned the world upside down, but not much is known about how people’s empathy toward others in difficult situations might be affected by the pandemic. Based on a nationally representative sample ( N = 943) from China, this study first let participants read three real scenarios and then measured: (1) how empathy toward others might be influenced by the perceived social support people obtained by using social media (i.e., WeChat); and (2) how different demographics such as age and gender as well as lockdown situations may affect preserving empathetic during the Covid outbreak. Results show that perceived social support via WeChat not only positively impacted empathy but also interacted with anxiety in influencing the degree to which participants could maintain empathy toward others. Those living in cities or towns with higher incomes were more empathetic to others. While anxiety does not necessarily decrease empathy, those who reported gaining more social support on social media showed more empathy toward others despite their elevated levels of anxiety. Age negatively predicted empathy, but gender and lockdown conditions did not impact empathy. This study contributes to the literature by identifying the critical role empathy plays in people’s affective response to others during a public health crisis.

BACKGROUND Considerable research has been devoted to examining the mental health conditions of patients with COVID-19 and medical staff attending to these patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are few insights concerning how the pandemic may take a toll on the mental health of the general population, and especially of nonpatients (ie, individuals who have not contracted COVID-19). OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the association between social media use and mental health conditions in the general population based on a national representative sample during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. METHODS We formed a national representative sample (N=2185) comprising participants from 30 provinces across China, who were the first to experience the COVID-19 outbreak in the world. We administered a web-based survey to these participants to analyze social media use, health information support received via social media, and possible psychiatric disorders, including secondary traumatic stress (STS) and vicarious trauma (VT). RESULTS Social media use did not cause mental health issues, but it mediated the levels of traumatic emotions among nonpatients. Participants received health information support via social media, but excessive social media use led to elevated levels of stress (<i>β</i>=.175; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), anxiety (<i>β</i>=.224; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), depression (<i>β</i>=.201; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), STS (<i>β</i>=.307; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), and VT (<i>β</i>=.688; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). Geographic location (or geolocation) and lockdown conditions also contributed to more instances of traumatic disorders. Participants living in big cities were more stressed than those living in rural areas (<i>P</i>=.02). Furthermore, participants from small cities or towns were more anxious (<i>P</i>=.01), stressed (<i>P</i>&lt;.001), and depressed (<i>P</i>=.008) than those from rural areas. Obtaining more informational support (<i>β</i>=.165; <i>P</i>&lt;.001) and emotional support (<i>β</i>=.144; <i>P</i>&lt;.001) via social media increased their VT levels. Peer support received via social media increased both VT (<i>β</i>=.332; <i>P</i>&lt;.001) and STS (<i>β</i>=.130; <i>P</i>&lt;.001) levels. Moreover, geolocation moderated the relationships between emotional support on social media and VT (<i>F</i>₂=3.549; <i>P</i>=.029) and the association between peer support and STS (<i>F</i>₂=5.059; <i>P</i>=.006). Geolocation also interacted with health information support in predicting STS (<i>F</i>₂=5.093; <i>P</i>=.006). CONCLUSIONS COVID-19 has taken a severe toll on the mental health of the general population, including individuals who have no history of psychiatric disorders or coronavirus infection. This study contributes to the literature by establishing the association between social media use and psychiatric disorders among the general public during the COVID-19 outbreak. The study findings suggest that the causes of such psychiatric disorders are complex and multifactorial, and social media use is a potential factor. The findings also highlight the experiences of people in China and can help global citizens and health policymakers to mitigate the effects of psychiatric disorders during this and other public health crises, which should be regarded as a key component of a global pandemic response.

Information is passed by word-of-mouth figures prominently when consumers evaluate products through reviews. However, severe logistical problems are caused by the internet’s Water Army (i.e., literally people who are hired by individuals or organizations to compose false reviews), that flood the internet e-commerce websites. An array of internet e-commerce sites is flooded with inauthentic information, and false reviews are used to maliciously induce consumers to purchase specific products, that often contain some defects. Notwithstanding the fact that the internet Water Army first manifested in China, it can also exist in other countries. The rationale lies in the high profitability possible, in the minds of numerous organized underground paid poster groups, and in writing fake reviews to misinform consumers. It has become an increasingly daunting task to precisely spot the Water Army members, who often alter their writing style and posted content. In this paper, the authors devise a comprehensive set of features to characterize all users and compare the paid posters against the normal users on different dimensions; furthermore, an ensemble detection model equipped with seven disparate algorithms is put into place. Our model reached a score of 0.730 in the AUC measure, 0.691 in the F1 measure on the JD dataset, 0.926 in the AUC measure, and 0.871 in the F1 measure on the Amazon dataset, which outshines the measures in the existing research. The significance and contribution of this work are in advancing constructive solutions and recommendations for this major concern of the entire e-commerce industry.

BACKGROUND The Covid-19 pandemic had turned the world upside down, but not much is known about how people’s empathy might be affected by the pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study examined 1) how empathy towards others might be influenced by the social support people obtained by using social media; and 2) how the individual demographics (e.g., age, income) may affect empathy. METHODS A national survey (N = 943) was conducted in China in February 2020, in which the participants read three real scenarios about low-income urban workers (Scenario I), small business owners in cities (Scenario II), and farmers in rural areas (Scenario III) who underwent hardship due to COVID-19. After exposure to others’ difficulties in the scenarios, the participants’ empathy and anxiety levels were measured. We also measured the social support they had by using social media. RESULTS Results show that social support not only positively impacted empathy, β = .30, P < .001 for Scenario I, β = .30, P < .001 for Scenario II, and β = .29, P < .001 for Scenario III, but also interacted with anxiety in influencing the degree to which participants could maintain empathy towards others, β = .08, P = .010 for Scenario I, and β = .07, P = .033 for scenario II. Age negatively predicted empathy for Scenario I, β = -.08, P = .018 and Scenario III, β = -.08, P = .009, but not for Scenario II, β = -.03, P = .40. Income levels – low, medium, high – positively predicted empathy for Scenario III, F (2, 940) = 8.10, P < .001, but not for Scenario I, F (2, 940) = 2.14, P = .12, or Scenario II, F (2, 940) = 2.93, P = .06. Participants living in big cities expressed greater empathy towards others for Scenario III, F (2, 940) = 4.03, P =.018, but not for Scenario I, F (2, 940) = .81, P = .45, or Scenario II, F (2, 940) = 1.46, P =.23. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to the literature by discovering the critical role empathy plays in people’s affective response to others during the pandemic. Anxiety did not decrease empathy. However, those gaining more social support on social media showed more empathy for others. Those who resided in cities with higher income levels were more empathetic during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study reveals that the social support people obtained helped maintain empathy to others, making them resilient in challenging times.