Recurrent Narratives Around the COVID-19 Crisis in Social Networks: A Case Study Analysis on Facebook

Abstract

In recent years, social networks have played a significant role during major crisis events as citizens use these net­works to seek information, discuss and share personal news stories, while in­teracting with other users regarding issues related to the perceived crisis. As a result, news content posted on social networks is of crucial importance since it can affect public opinion in various ways. The aim of this study is to as­sess dominant narratives generated through users’ reactions towards news content posted on Facebook so as to examine the role of Facebook during the global crisis of COVID-19. Drawing from different aspects of crisis commu­nication theory and audience-centered studies, this work seeks to investigate the constructed meanings related to this crisis and interpret users’ under­standing of news content posted on social networks. Content analysis is employed as a means to evaluate Face­book’s potential in (re)defining users’ narratives regarding issues related to COVID-19. Keywords: COVID-19, Facebook, crisis, users’ narratives, news stories.