Fake News on Social Media and Its Efficiency as Sources of Information on the COVID-19 Pandemic:

Social media has been of a high priority among different age groups, especially the younger individuals who are able to effectively deal with communication technology. The reliance on social media as source of information and news has become extremely important at a time when all indications show that fake news on social media has become a pandemic with a viral nature that is no less dangerous and its effects than the COVID-19 pandemic itself. Undoubtedly, this is reflected in its effectiveness as sources of information and news, especially in ambiguous situations for which the individual needs to search for sources that reduce such ambiguity. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the motives for individuals to rely on social media, and the effects resulting from these motives. In addition to investigating how sharing fake news on social media, and its accounts, affects the efficiency and effectiveness of these means in terms of the degree to which the public relies on such means as a source of information and news of the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 pandemic is of the mysterious and critical situations individuals could witness and that the public and specialists alike deal with, since it is related to their lives and health.  What is known about this pandemic, until this study is conducted, in terms of its source, its causes, how to confront, prevent, and ways to confront it, may not be devoid of many unverified opinions, and if we could say “fallacies”, which drive the public to continuously search for sources of information, foremost among social media.
The study adopted two main theories, namely “the media richness theory: and “the media dependency theory”, in addition to reflecting on the model of public interaction through social media networks, social media engagement, as they suit the subject of the study and are closest to achieving its objectives, answering its questions and testing its assumptions.
The study concluded with many results, including, that Instagram comes at the top of the social media platforms that the study sample relies on to follow the news by 30.6%, followed by WhatsApp in the second by 17.4%, then Facebook by 15.3%, and Twitter with a slight difference, Snap Chat, by 12.4%, while YouTube, by 10.4%. It was found that the majority of the study sample was exposed to fake news on social media, of whom 26.8% are constantly exposed to that type of news, and 59.2% are exposed from time to time. However, the majority of respondents, 77.2% of the study sample believe that publishing fake news on social media is, sometimes, an implementation of a certain agenda, referring to those who have specific interests in publishing fake content to social media. Moreover, the majority of the study sample believe that social media is responsible for the spread of fake news on its platforms, as 55.6% of respondents believe that social media is "highly responsible", while 40.8% stated that it is "somewhat responsible".
As for the motives of the reliance of the study sample on social media as a source of information and news about the COVID-19 pandemic, the understanding motives came first for weighted average of 80.57, while social understanding motives came at the top of the understanding motives with a weighted average of 81.20. The self-understanding motives with a weighted average of 79.95. The cognitive effects came at the top of the effects resulting from the dependence of the respondents on social media as a source of information and news about the COVID-19 pandemic, with a weighted average of 75.05, followed by the emotional effects with a weighted average of 74.50, then the behavioral effects with a weighted average of 74.30.