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Coronavirus, virus, covid-19
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Coronavirus and digital culture

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The Editors
30/03/2020
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The coronavirus has devastating effects around the world: it has stopped or at least seriously diminished offline social life. States have to take unforeseen measures to protect their people. Economies are crumbling and life has profoundly changed for millions of people. At the same time, the coronavirus produces enormous social activity online. We see an avalanche of memes, conspiracy theories, and far-right activism next to the emergence of new micro-celebrities and new forms of sociality that are reshaping our lives. The coronavirus is at the same time used as leverage for new forms of surveillance and control. This and much more in this new file. 

The Coronavirus and Digital Culture

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‘5G users be like’: (In)visibility as evidence in 5G conspiracy memes

Article
Mijke Akkermans
09/08/2020
16 minutes to read

For several years, conspiracy theorists have promoted the idea that 5G waves are harmful for one's health, now even relating this to the coronavirus. This paper explores how memes are used to define (in)visibility as evidence within this theory.

covid-19 memes, coronavirus, memes

Coronavirus memes: Laughing the apocalypse away

Article
Jana Nuiten
18/05/2020
10 minutes to read

As the coronavirus pandemic has taken hold, coronavirus memes have emerged. In memes, people find an outlet for being humorous and coping with the harsh circumstances they are living in at the moment.

face mask, corona, covid, culture, corona culture
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The COVID19 lockdown rules: How we learn and adjust

Column
Jan Blommaert
14/05/2020
7 minutes to read

The COVID19 lockdown crisis involves many of us rapidly learning and adjusting to entirely new rules, many of which used to be 'weird' until recently.

An Instagram feed shows an alert about coronavirus, followed by a post that reads "we will feel alive again"
© Photo by alex bracken on Unsplash

Memeing under Covid-19: On the phatic internet and collectivity

Article
Lucie Chateau
20/04/2020
16 minutes to read

This article looks at how our online communication practices have changed under the Covid-19 crisis. It looks at collective memeing, text chains and Boomer Images to reflect on what connections are being made in these extraordinary times.

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Covid-19: A World United, A World Apart

Column
Ana Deumert
30/03/2020
8 minutes to read

Covid-19 affects us all, but it affects us differently. In this column I look at #StayAtHome policies outside of middle-class realities, and argue for caring and compassionate policy interventions that support the most vulnerable.

© PIRO4D from Pixabay

Vlogging during the coronavirus crisis

Column
Mingyi Hou
27/03/2020
7 minutes to read

Chinese student Yi Dahua’s vlogging from Turin, Italy has made him a micro-celebrity during the coronavirus crisis. His case illustrates a "boundary-blurred" public sphere with widely varied public communication on the pandemic.

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The coronavirus, the attention economy and far-right junk news

Column
Ico Maly
18/03/2020
9 minutes to read

The coronavirus has devastating consequences for social life in all corners of the world. For some, this global pandemic is an opportunity to reach a wide audience, to make money or to further a political agenda.