Transformation of social relationships in COVID-19 America: Remote communication may amplify political echo chambers

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a social dilemma; “social distancing” was required to stop the spread of disease, but close social contacts were needed more than ever to collectively overcome the unprecedented challenges of the crisis. How did Americans mobilize their social ties in response to the pandemic? Drawing from a nation-wide daily online survey of 36,345 Americans from April 2020 through April 2021, we examine the characteristics of Americans’ core networks within which people discuss “important matters.” Comparing the COVID-19 networks to those previously collected in eight national core network surveys from 1985 to 2016, we observe remarkable stability in the size and relationship composition of core networks during COVID-19. In contrast to the robust nature of core networks, we discover a significant rise in racial homophily among kin ties, and political homophily among non-kin ties. Simultaneously, our study reveals a significant surge in the adoption of remote communication technology to connect with individuals who are geographically distant. We demonstrate that the changing mode of communication contributes to increases in racial and political homophily. These results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic may bring people remotely together but only with the like-minded, deepening social divides in American society.

Communication with Kin in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…These results suggest that the pandemic did alter people’s relationships with their family members as they reached out to kin much more frequently. More broadly, these findings are aligned with growing research showing that in crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, people tend to activate or further strengthen kin ties they trust as a way to deal with uncertainty and risks (Lee et al 2023; Völker 2023). Research using smartphone usage data also suggests that the pandemic significantly increased people’s use of messaging and voice call apps to stay connected during the first wave of the pandemic (Ohme et al 2020).…”

“…Recent research suggests that close family ties were protective against feelings of loneliness during the pandemic lockdowns (Kovacs et al 2021). Some emerging literature shows that the strength of networks during the COVID-19 pandemic is following typical patterns observed in other situations of crisis, whereby facing external threats increases trust and cooperation "within groups" (in our case, with kin members) but may reinforce boundaries "across groups" (i.e., with nonkin members), leading to the activation and strengthening of ingroup ties such as kin relationships (Lee, Lee, and Hartmann 2023;Völker 2023). Nonetheless, we know little about which family ties are activated in times of crisis and who activates these kinship resources.…”

“…In another study, Kovacs et al (2021) use longitudinal social network data, including both family and nonfamily ties, to show how close relationships were protective against loneliness during the pandemic. A recent article by Lee et al (2023), who developed a nationwide online survey to explore how Americans mobilized their social ties in response to the pandemic (both kin- and nonkin ties), found remarkable stability in the strength of kin ties relative to the pre-COVID era alongside a significant rise in racial homophily during COVID fostered by the use of online communication technologies.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, little research exists on the topic to date. Although it is undeniable that the pandemic has exacerbated within-couple dynamics leading, for instance, to higher family instability (Manning and Payne 2021), spikes in intimate partner violence (Bullinger, Carr, and Packham 2021; Lindberg et al 2020), and a greater care burden (Lee and Parolin 2021), the general perception in the media is that the pandemic could also be seen as an opportunity for more extensive communication and strengthening of familial bonds with relatives, both closer and distal ones (Lee et al 2023). Empirical analyses are, however, lacking, with a few exceptions.…”

Toward a Critical Social Work Ethics of Immigration, Migration, and Human Rights

“…Historically, nearly all immigrant groups were seen as effectively non-white and not desirable. Even most European immigrants were deemed undesirable at one point or another, though some eventually were conferred "white" status and privilege (Lee, 2019;Okrent, 2019). Prone to xenophobia, nativism, and white supremacy, the U.S. immigration system is another American institution characterized by systemic racism.…”