Digital Information Seeking and Sharing Behaviour During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Pakistan

Abstract

Studies on digital interaction in emergent users’ population are rare. We analyse the electronic data generated by users from Pakistan on Google Search Engine and WhatsApp to understand their information-seeking behaviour during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. We study how the Pakistani public developed their understanding about the disease, (its origin, cures, and preventive measures to name a few) through digital media. Understanding this information seeking behaviour will allow corrective actions to be taken by health policymakers to better inform the public in future health crises through electronic media, as well as the digital media platforms and search engines to address misinformation among the users in the emergent markets.