Social media posts on COVID-19 : views and attributions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to various imposed restrictions meant to confine its spread. These restrictions have obliged individuals to remain at home, which led to authorities and public institutions to make use of social media to provide communications in the forms of publicised posts about the relevant information regarding awareness and daily updates. This study aims to comprehend University of Malta students’ retrospective perspectives on these social media posts, and the views they attribute to others concerning these posts. Moreover, the research seeks to define the convergences and divergences amongst these different retrospective views and emotional reactions. Interviews were conducted with six University of Malta students, selected through convenience sampling. The study was retrospective in that the pandemic itself was discussed as incorporating different phases which occurred in the past. Data was analysed through thematic analysis. Four main themes emerged: (a) usefulness of posts, (b) inevitability and blame, (c) trust in authorities, and (d) emotional change over time. Findings suggest that thematic convergences are present amongst one’s own view and attributed views, however, the divergences were mostly seen in the reasoning behind these viewpoints and attributions. The findings are discussed in terms of social representations theory and attribution theory. The implications of this study suggest the importance in understanding one’s view in times of crisis to ensure that social media posts advocate compliance and support rather than segregation, anxiety, and fear.