Changes in Digital Communication During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic: Implications for Digital Inequality and Future Research

Abstract

Governments and public health institutions across the globe have set social distancing and stay-at-home guidelines to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. With reduced opportunities to spend time together in person come new challenges to remain socially connected. This essay addresses how the pandemic has changed people’s use of digital communication methods, and how inequalities in the use of these methods may arise. We draw on data collected from 1,374 American adults between 4 and 8 April 2020, about two weeks after lockdown measures were introduced in various parts of the United States. We first address whether people changed their digital media use to reach out to friends and family, looking into voice calls, video calls, text messaging, social media, and online games. Then, we show how age, gender, living alone, concerns about Internet access, and Internet skills relate to changes in social contact during the pandemic. We discuss how the use of digital media for social connection during a global public health crisis may be unequally distributed among citizens and may continue to shape inequalities even after the pandemic is over. Such insights are important considering the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s social wellbeing. We also discuss how changes in digital media use might outlast the pandemic, and what this means for future communication and media research.

The COVID Connection: Pandemic Anxiety, COVID-19 Comprehension, and Digital Confidence

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Feasibility of a virtual Facebook community platform for engagement on health research

“…Our preliminary data demonstrate Facebook as a feasible channel for engaging a virtual community and provide a model for the CTSA Consortium for community outreach. Our findings are particularly timely and relevant given the current societal challenges with in-person connectivity and the increasing reliance on social media and other digital platforms due to COVID-19 [32].…”

Digital Media: When God Becomes Everybody—The Blurring of Sacred and Profane

“…It is used by "everyone" (in hypermodern societies) for almost anything: working, filing taxes, asking for medical advice, speaking with friends and family, dating, banking, shopping, scheduling appointments, learning a new skill, entertainment, anything. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when leaving one's house was sometime impossible, people needed to use digital communication technology for most aspects of one's life (Nguyen et al 2020). No longer a secret tool used by priests-programmers, the internet is now used by lay people for mundane tasks-it is profane.…”