As the Indian healthcare system is fighting a deadly second wave of COVID-19, the lack of beds, medicines, and oxygen is turning people to look for other ways for finding help. Many are now using social media to find help for oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, and other necessary items on all platforms.
People are posting their needs as posts and stories across these platforms. Using these platforms in the right way can help people to find COVID resources. Few important tricks and ways to reach these resources will be helpful for the needy.
Points to follow
When posting on different platforms, not having enough followers might not be a drawback to reach a wide audience. Users should aim to get amplified by accounts that have a bigger reach and thus increase the chance of finding leads.
Through your post on any platform always make sure the key highlights are added in the post. Mentioning exactly what help is needed like medicines or food is important. Adding details like the name of the patient, age, blood oxygen levels, and need for hospitalisation or home setup is a must.
Clearly mentioning the need in posts on social media often helps in receiving good responses. Often people who try to help on social media send various contacts, dialing them and not getting a response is now common but being patient is important.
The platform has its own COVID-19 related information tab on its app and desktop version. The tab helps in providing official government information about the outbreak. Adding important hashtags such as #COVIDEmergency, #COVIDSOS #COVIDHelp does work in boosting the post.
Soon, Facebook will launch a tool called Vaccine Finder in collaboration with the Government of India. This tool will be available in 17 regional languages and help to identify local vaccine centers. Option of walk-in vaccine centers and link to register on COWIN will be available.
Influencers on the platform capabilities to reach a wide audience due to their followers’ number. Many influencers are helping their follower’s requests by adding them to their stories. It is important to keep the profile public and add all relevant details of the patient in need of help.
Twitter has emerged as a prime platform for people who are looking for help in the pandemic. On the explore tab section, the platform has built a dedicated COVID-19 hub for users. Users can see live event pages, Government announcements, and other relevant information.
Another important resource hub to find relevant information is https://covid19-twitter.in/, an aggregator tool that helps users to search for ventilators, medicines, oxygen cylinders, and other important information. Users need to select the right options to find verified leads and concerning the information.