USO DA FERRAMENTA DE MÍDIA SOCIAL, INSTAGRAM, COMO MEIO PARA CONTRIBUIR NA CONSTRUÇÃO DO CONHECIMENTO, DIFUNDIR INFORMAÇÕES CIENTÍFICAS E COMBATER “FAKE NEWS” DURANTE A PANDEMIA DA COVID-19:

In 2020, the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, causing academic activities at UFRN to be interrupted in the middle of March. Faced with the impossibility of conducting in-person outreach activities with the theme of education and health, this extension group created an Instagram profile, which is a powerful tool and has a high reach, to disseminate secure information about the pandemic. The goal is to help the public in understanding this new disease, since Brazil and the world suffer with widespread fake news. The profile provides informational posts about COVID-19, in addition to live transmission with expert professionals, who answer questions and thus help to solve the doubts of viewers. Therefore, through the study and commitment of the students and advisor that feed this Instagram account, it is possible to bring daily reliable information about COVID-19 to the public.