MKAR JOURNAL OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Volume 5, No. 1 1 EVALUATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE ON THE OUTBREAK OF COVID-19 IN NIGERIA Ter. Moses Akase, Ph.D Department of Mass Communication Nasarawa State University, Keffi akasetermoses00@gmail.com +2347033432687 Simon Reazanyi Sheyigari Federal University Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria simreasheyis@ymail.com +2348038541664 Aselema Adako Auta Department of Mass Communication, Nasarawa State University, Keffi +2348035093873 josephaselema@gmail.com Abstract The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak which emerged in Wuhan, China in the end of 2019, has claimed lives and damage to nation economy and has posed a huge threat to global public health. Several governments have implemented control measures including setting up special hospitals and travel restriction to mitigate its spread. Propose conceptual models for the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria with the consideration of individual behavioural reaction and governmental actions, such as travel restriction, stay at home, lock down, hospitalization, quarantine and others. Considering the internet as playing a leading role in providing platforms for the dissemination of health- related information. In this century, potential citizens are accessing the internet and social media applications to find and disseminate information regarding disease outbreaks and sharing their positive M J M C