Impact of Internet on Quality of Life during COVID-19 Pandemic among Scholars of Kashmir Valley: A Sample Survey

The print and electronic media in the current COVID-19 pandemic played important role by covering the news on COVID- 19 pandemic and diverse steps taken by the government to combat with COVID-19 crisis. Education has been carried out worldwide during the COVID-19 via online which has been a challenge for faculty and students especially in conflict zone like Kashmir valley. The main aim of writing this paper was to assess the internet impact on Quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic among the scholars of Kashmir. In this survey, a well-designed questionnaire was used to collect the information on 400 scholars from Kashmir valley via offline and online mode. The data collected was analysed using standard statistical tools with the help of statistical software SPSS (version 20). The scholars in majority reported that they are finding it convenient to attend online classes in present circumstances but frequent internet blocking, poor internet speed in Kashmir was the main hurdle in e-learning. The study revealed that majority of the scholars boys as well as girls reported that during COVID-19 pandemic media impacted slightly (boys=37.5%, girls=41.5%) on quality of their life. Further, 14.5% boys and 12.5% girl respondents were not able to decide about the impact of media during COVID-19 crisis on quality of life. Further, Hours spend on internet for COVID news and anxiety and nervous were positively and significantly correlated (P<0.01), Hours spend on internet for COVID news and worry were positively and significantly correlated (P<0.01) and Hours spend on internet for COVID news and Quality of life were positively and significantly correlated (P<0.01). The findings of our study also indicate that regardless of gender, residence, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on internet use and psychological well-being of scholars. It was suggested that scholars should not rely much on internet to manage distress and anxiety in the current COVID-19 pandemic.