Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 2 Dec: In Uttarakhand, social media played a crucial role in dealing with Covid-19. Social media “caused pain and also acted as a remedy”—it spread misleading information, yet also helped people combat such misinformation. These findings have emerged from the research conducted by Priyank Mohan, a research scholar in Media and Mass Communication. Today, Graphic Era Hill University awarded Priyank Mohan a PhD degree for his work.
Priyank Mohan completed his research, titled “The Role of Social Media in Covid Management in Uttarakhand” under the guidance of Professor Dr Subhash Gupta. He is the seventh scholar to earn a PhD in Media and Mass Communication from Graphic Era Hill University under Prof Gupta’s supervision. During the ceremony, the Chairman of Graphic Era Group of Institutions, Prof Kamal Ghanshala, congratulated Dr Priyank for his achievement.
Priyank received the PhD degree after successfully clearing his final defence today. The final defence panel included Prof Gopal Singh, Dean of the Department of Journalism at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Central University, Lucknow, and academician Prof Sushil Upadhyay, who served as external experts.
Priyank shared that according to his research, 64% of respondents believed that during the Covid period, the state government widely used social media to spread awareness. The study also found that 93% of people felt social media would continue to play a vital role in dealing with future crises like Covid. Facebook and WhatsApp emerged as the most popular platforms during the pandemic. The research highlighted that misleading information on social media was the biggest challenge during Covid, but the same platforms also became helpful in countering misinformation.
The final defence was attended by Prof. Subhash Gupta, Controller of Examinations Dr Vijay Parthasarathy, Head of Management Department Dr Vishal Sagar, Head of Fashion Designing Dr Jyoti Chawda, Head of Mass Communication Dr Taha Siddiqui, and PhD Coordinator Dr Himani Binjola.
