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Apart not alone while we #workfromhome: Tweeters Online Communal Coping with Involuntary Remote Work During COVID-19 Author: Saralie Sernhede Advisor: Carolina Martinez School of Arts & Communication K3 Malmö University Spring 2020 Abstract This thesis explores the role of social media in communal coping. Specifically, it explores the role of Twitter in the communal coping with stressors affecting a global population due to the COVID-19 pandemic disease, with the purpose of answering the main research question: How is Twitter being used as a platform for online coping with the common stressor of involuntary teleworking from home during a pandemic? Through a mixed methods analysis of Twitter content collected from two weeks in April 2020, this thesis examines how Tweeters are connecting with each other through the hashtag #workfromhome in order to cope with stressors involved with working remotely from their homes. Using sensitized concepts from theoretical frameworks and prior studies of coping, a hermeneutic approach to social science was adopted in the research. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis was performed in several rounds of iterative process coding. The results of this thesis suggest that in the context of COVID-19 Tweeting is itself part of the coping process. Further, online coping strategies can first and foremost be recognized as communal. In answer to the main research question, Twitter is being used as a platform for communal coping orientation, communication about the stressor, and cooperative action. With the changing nature of work and the ongoing uncertainty concerning the long-term implications of COVID-19, the direction of this thesis and its findings may assist organizations and stakeholders alike in understanding the impact of involuntary remote work on individuals. Lastly, the findings open up new opportunities for research within the field of studying online coping efforts. Keywords Social media, Twitter, hashtag, communal coping, remote work, COVID-19 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. BACKGROUND 2 2.1 COVID-19 2 2.2 Twitter 4 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 9 3.1 Contexts for Coping: Critical Situations, Crises & Disasters 9 3.2 Individual, Collective & Communal Coping 10 3.3 Humor & Coping 13 4. LITERATURE REVIEW 15 4.1 Media Studies and Coping Research 15 4.2 Localization of Thesis within the Literature & Implications 18 5. METHODOLOGY 19 5.3 Qualitative & Quantitative Content Analysis 22 5.4 Data Collection, Logics of Inquiry & Coding Process 23 5.5 Limitations 27 5.6 Ethical Implications 29 6. RESULTS 30 6.1 Communal Coping Orientation 31 6.2 Communication About the Stressor 34 6.2.1 Defining the new normal 34 6.2.2 Expressing practical & emotional difficulty 37 6.3 Cooperative Action 39 6.3.1 Asking for/offering help, support, & connection 39 6.3.2 Maintaining a positive narrative 41 6.3.3 Using humor to address the stressors 42 7. DISCUSSION 46 8. CONCLUSION 49 REFERENCES 51 FIGURE REFERENCES 55 APPENDIXES 56 List of Figures Figure 1: The Benign Violations Theory (McGraw & Warner, 2015) Figure 2: Circular process of coding (DeCuir-Gunby, Marshall & McCulloch, 2011. P. 139) Figure 3: 100 Most used words in Tweets with #workfromhome (2020) Figure 4: Representation of Benign Violations Theory (McGraw & Warner, 2015. p 62) 1. INTRODUCTION On the 12th of March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the outbreak of COVID-19 a global pandemic disease (World Health Organization, 2020). In the time of writing this thesis, the world seems to be talking about little else than this extremely contagious virus, which is spreading across the globe like wildfire. Societies around the world have been forced to change both current government regulations and the daily routines of individuals in order to deal with the crisis. Social distancing and self-quarantine have been encouraged, and in many places, quarantine has been enforced by law. Businesses have had to stop their operations, either due to regulation or due to the lack of healthy staff and customers. This has impacted the daily lives of citizens globally. One big adaptation has been that if the nature of their work allows it, employees, managers, and entrepreneurs alike have had to adjust to working remotely to help stop the spread of the virus. Whole societies have had their life-routines uprooted and are now dealing with a variety of stressors related to working remotely from their own homes (World Health Organization, 2020). Through a mixed methods analysis of Twitter content collected from two weeks in April 2020, when the full impact of the pandemic disease had been explicitly recognized globally, this study examines how Tweeters are connecting with each other through the hashtag #workfromhome in order to cope with stressors involved with working remotely from their homes. The role of social media in the communal coping with these specific stressors becomes additionally significant in this contemporary context, as individuals are physically isolated from socially connecting with peers, groups, or communities outside of their homes, with whom they may otherwise share the communal coping process (Lyons et. al., 1998). While physical routines and social interactions have been aggressively disrupted, online interaction has increased as social media users turn to one of the few parts of their life which has not been uprooted by the pandemic (Twitter, 2020). This allows for an approach that tweeting in itself is a form of coping with disrupted routines, as it to some extent maintains normalcy in times of crisis. This context and topic, together with the approach to understanding online communal coping, makes this study unique. Shifting the focus from local natural disasters and activist 1 movements to an emergent global crisis, this study continues to explore the role of social media in communal coping. Specifically, it explores the role of Twitter in the coping with stressors affecting a global population due to the COVID-19 pandemic disease, with the purpose of answering the main research question: How is Twitter being used as a platform for online coping with the common stressor of involuntary teleworking from home during a pandemic? With the changing nature of work and the ongoing uncertainty concerning the long-term implications of COVID-19, the direction of this thesis and its findings may assist organizations and stakeholders alike in understanding the impact of involuntary remote work on individuals. An understanding of the stressors involuntary remote work creates could help organizations respond to these stressors with possible solutions and help strengthen the coping process overall. The unique specific context of COVID-19 and the focus on that the use of social media in itself is part of the communal coping process of dealing with stressors related to the pandemic opens up a new line of research within the field of studying online coping efforts. 2. BACKGROUND In the following section, the research problem will be placed in its contemporary context. The background against which the research problem stands will be presented, along with an overview of how the situation has developed over time and space. The social context and environment of Twitter will be examined, both in more general terms and as a space for online communal coping. Lastly, the recognized significance and challenges of the context in which this study takes place will be described. 2.1 COVID-19 On December 30th 2019, a patient with an unknown form of pneumonia in Wuhan Junyintan Hospital in China was recognized to be a carrier of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19)(World Health Organization, 2020). This was the first confirmed case of the zoonotic virus and infectious disease which would on the 12th of March 2020 be recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic. As of February 2020, a cumulative total of 75 465 cases of COVID-19 were reported in China (World Health Organization, 2020). As of 2 May 11th, 2020, there had been 4 013 728 confirmed cases, 278 993 confirmed deaths in 215 confirmed countries, areas or territories according to the WHO (World Health Organization, 2020). At this time, although there are many clinical trials in action to find a cure, there is no vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 (World Health Organization, 2020) Since the outbreak of COVID-19 every community in the world has been affected either directly or indirectly. Public health and social measures have been put in place in all countries to hinder the spread of the deadly virus. These measures vary across borders, but all include elements of stay-at-home orders, the closing of schools, shops and religious centers, as well as limitations on domestic and international travel (Surveillance strategies for Covid- 19 human infection, 10 May 2020). According to the “UN Framework for Immediate Socio- Economic Response to COVID-19” (2020), COVID-19 is far more than a health crisis. They estimate that in the second quarter of 2020, the crisis could lead to a decline in 195 million full-time equivalent workers (United Nations, 2020). Similarly, in their joint public statement on COVID-19, the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) stated that COVID-19 is threatening both the health and the livelihoods of workers and employers globally (International Organization of Employers & International Trade Union Confederation, 2020). Further recognizing the socio-economic impact of COVID-19, the International Labor Organization (ILO) stated in a report from early April that “no matter where in the world or in which sector, the crisis is having a dramatic impact on the world’s workforce” (United Nations, 2020). The need for social distancing and isolation to stop the spread of the virus is placing great strain on both global and local economies. In this context, evident multi-tier challenges are to be met both on national and international levels.