Modeling the dynamics of information panic in society. COVID-19 case

Global processes and their trends that occur in various fields of knowledge with a significant acceleration affect the development of information technology. The modern world is a world in which the media and social networks play a dominant role in the formation of a certain model of the world in the minds of individuals. Naturally, the consciousness of each person has a certain "information filter", the functional ability of which varies greatly depending on the characteristics of the person. The "strength" and capacity of this "filter" are influenced by many factors, which are the subject of a separate study for psychologists. Thus, let us accept the fact that this "filter" exists, and it is he who is responsible for the fact that a person filters all information coming to him in a certain way. And this applies to any information received by a person, including negative information. Most people, having received a portion of negative information - about politics, economics, natural disasters, pandemics, react in a certain way, primarily on an emotional level. For some, the first emotional reaction is gradually extinguished, and the action of the information negatively ends without causing any consequences. For others, a weak information filter allows a reaction in the form of fears, which may exist up to a certain moment, and then either the fear disappears, or, receiving a new informational "feed", that is, a new portion of negativity, increases. © 2020 Copyright for this paper by its authors.