Social media access and purposeful use in China: Geospatial patterns and socioeconomic and COVID-19 influences

• Social media purposeful use and brand use regularly elevated in Chinese megacities. • Social media uses and brands varr over study period only for frequency and Douyin. • Spatial patterns of clustered social media uses, brands & Covid effects are studied. • Regressions find relation of social media with social, economic & innovation factors. • Results imply pandemic-related isolation increased selective uses of social media.