Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic raised interest in the question of digital participation and expression during crises. Our study contributes to this debate through a deep dive into differential effects the pandemic had on the social and political expression of Twitter users. We report results from a mobile experience sampling method survey of intense users from Jerusalem, Israel. As the study was in the field when lockdown measures were implemented, it can trace changes in expressive behaviors as the crisis emerged. Our data demonstrate differential patterns in use intensity and communication about the pandemic. Many people intensified their Twitter use, but some turned away. Compared with younger users, older people used Twitter less and communicated about the pandemic less. More educated users intensified their use, compared with less educated users. Rather than causing complete realignments of expression, the pandemic intensified existing differential patterns. Our study demonstrates how, in a moment of uncertainty, a situation-specific information elite formed within a set of intense Twitter users, one that could gain disproportionate power in shaping public understanding of the pandemic.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 4121-4144 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | International Journal of Communication |
Volume | 18 |
State | Published - 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:Copyright © 2024 (Daniela Stoltenberg, Neta Kligler-Vilenchik, Maya De Vries Kedem, Hadas Gur-Ze’ev, Barbara Pfetsch, and Annie Waldherr). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd). Available at http://ijoc.org.
Keywords
- crisis communication
- differential effects
- information elite
- mobile experience sampling method
- political expression