This webinar is jointly organised by the NUS Centre for Trusted Internet and Community, and the Department of Communications and New Media.

When the circuit-breaker came into effect in April 2020, Singaporeans suspended their daily lives to check the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Social media and computer-mediated-communication became the lifeline for communication as well as breaking news. However, social media was considered by many to be a double-edged sword and often deigned the culprit of misinformation and rumors. This webinar discusses the preliminary findings from social media posts and survey data collected in February-June 2020. Social media posts tagged #stayhomeforsg denote themes of positive emotion, relationships, and belonging. Results from the survey data suggest the importance of social trust in battling uncertainty and social media rumors. Controlling for social media news consumption, greater trust in one's neighbours reduced the experience of stress. We discuss the implications, and pitch the #stayhomeforsg dashboard as a tool for building greater social trust and compliance among Singaporeans.

The talk is followed the launch of the #stayhomeforsg dashboard by Distinguished Professor Chen Tsuhan.

 

MCI Deputy Secretary Aaron Maniam's opening address on the soft launch of CTIC and the CTIC Webinar series. View video

 

NUS Deputy President (Research & Technology) Distinguished Professor Chen Tsuhan's remarks on the soft launch of CTIC. View video

 

Dr Kokil Jaidka's talk on Social media in COVID-19: building resilience or sowing stress? View video

 

Launch of #StayHomeforSG Dashboard. View video