Yes - Orson Welles and his War of the Worlds Broadcast showed how hysteria can be generated:
(however note the scepticism in the article about “widespread panic”)
Social media could have been extremely helpful in providing useful information to support people during this crisis. I suppose it is like a domesticated animal, once useful to mankind, that has gone feral.
At least we have Facetime/Skype etc for staying in touch with family and friends.
From what I heard over many decades from my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles as well as those of friends, was about how people were screaming and running through the streets during Orson Wells’ broadcast. If so many people believe in the “Coronavirus cures”, that 5G causes cancer, etc. nonsense floating around social media, I think it’s likely that some people would have panicked at what sounded like a legitimate news interruption from what sounded like an official source reporting on a Martian invasion.
There’s a fantastic scene about Wells’ broadcast in the movie Radio Days:
Watching fun stuff is definitely something YouTube is good for.