Apart not alone while we #workfromhome: Tweeters Online Communal Coping with Involuntary Remote Work During COVID-19

(1)

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

(2)

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

(3)

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)

(5)

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

(6)

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

(7)

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. On one such tier of this global crisis,

businesses that can maintain their operations up and running while their workforce teleworks are facing the challenges of operating remotely and completely online (UN, 2020).

Correspondingly, it has come to be a common theme that COVID-19 may change our perception of communication, education, consumption, and work (United Nations, 2020). “Digital new society already came into our life, but we never imagined that we could be forced to stay at home and to use the digital worlds to connect ourselves and make our business continue. So that is something absolutely new”, stated the Secretary-General of the

(8)

International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Houlin Zhao on the subject at a digital briefing in early May 2020 (United Nations, 2020. p. 1).

While both international and national efforts are being made to ensure that as much of the workforce as possible has the technology, ability, support, and opportunity to maintain their livelihood while teleworking (UN, 2020), this transition does not come without both large-scale practical and individual existential challenges of its own. With a larger remote workforce than ever before, a tripled use of internet traffic globally, and an unprecedented increase in usage of digital devices to perform required work tasks, practical challenges such as technical issues and cybercrime have increased drastically (United Nations, 2020).

Along with these more practical challenges of a drastically increased remote workforce, there are further existential consequences of such a large number of individuals involuntarily working from home. In their study on the implications of involuntary vs. voluntary flexible work, Kaduk, Genadek, Kelly & Moen (2019) explore the complexity behind remote work and flexible schedules. Their findings include notions that involuntary variable schedules and location independence when working are associated with greater stress, burnout, turnover intentions, work-to-family conflict, and lower job satisfaction (Kaduk, Genadek, Kelly & Moen, 2019). In this context the challenges of involuntary remote work are joined by the dissolving of routines and regular social interactions, as well as the emotional stress of living through a pandemic.

2.2 Twitter

One aspect of daily life that has been less uprooted by the pandemic is social media usage. 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 drastically limited by the pandemic (Twitter, 2020).

As will become apparent, an increasing amount of research is being directed towards social media. As platforms for publishing thoughts and opinions, sharing content, and connecting with a larger community, scholars from across fields have recognized the relevance of examining these communication platforms (Highfields & Leaver, 2015). Twitter is one such

(9)

popular platform, in which the sharing of content and ideas is done through “tweets”, a textual piece of content limited to 280 characters. Twitter has come to be one of the most popular social media platforms, having 330 million active users worldwide in 2019 (Chong, 2019). The wide possibilities for distribution accredited to Twitter are in part due to tools and features of the platform which allow “tweeters” to cluster, modify, re-broadcast, and reply to ongoing conversations and messages (Moscato,2016).

One of the features of Twitter, and other social platforms as well, is the option for the users to add or create hashtags together with their tweet. In accordance with the platform’s algorithm, a hashtag helps distribute and organize information, feelings, and opinions about topics, events, or news (Chong, 2019). Represented by the # symbol, hashtags draw attention to the context in which a tweet is posted.

The relevant hashtag to this study is #workfromhome. Users use the hashtag #workfromhome to share their remote work experiences. The hashtag was first used in five tweets in 2009, firstly in promotional tweets for online work opportunities. Since then it has been

increasingly used by marketers, employers offering remote work, and remote workers alike. In 2019, it was used five times during April. Three of these five tweets were represented by business accounts. A year later, the full impact of COVID-19 was being felt by the world, forcing a global population to work from their homes. In mid-April 2020, when this study was conducted, 92 506 tweets (retweets included) were hashtagged with #workfromhome - this only from the six days of data collection performed at the start of this research project (12th - 14th of April and 22th - 24th of April).

Using hashtags is a community-driven practice in which a user by attaching the # to a tweet is promoting folksonomy, which in turn can be interpreted and analyzed as part of a larger set of metadata (Chong, 2019). An online community is created where users can share emotions and grievances, discuss identity-related issues, share resources, and create momentum for physical protests (Schneider & Carpenter, 2018). The opportunity for users to learn about and use trending hashtags like #workfromhome allows them to join in the ongoing conversation and connect with others discussing similar topics. However, many of these tweets are strategically used for marketing purposes, commercial campaigns, and business audience growth. Due to the algorithms of Twitter, a tweet may have greater reach if trending hashtags are used wisely (Fisherman, 2020).

(10)

Unsurprisingly, the general impact of social media platforms and their accompanying features have in no way gone unnoticed by the world. Well-known social networking platforms have been credited with being a force for democratizing communication between organizations and stakeholders (Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy, & Silvestre, 2011), freeing self-representation communication from mass media filters (Uldum & Askanias, 2013), reducing financial and skill-based barriers which dissolve the divide between media producers and consumers (Della Porta, 2013), and in doing so giving a great number of communicators the ability to streamline messages through micro-blogging (Moscato, 2016). Furthermore, organizations across industries have recognized Twitter to specifically be a powerful device for public education approaches. In the process of connecting with people to build deep emergent ties in order to mobilize supporters and fans, tools like hashtags can play a very important role (Guo & Saxton, 2014). Social media has further allowed users to

expand their social support networks beyond their usual community, which in turn has assisted in the process of coping with difficult life events (Schneider & Carpenter, 2019; Orchowski et al., 2013).

As with many innovations and societal trends, social media platforms and their features do have their downside. The collapsing of several contexts and audiences into one, the formation of exclusive groups, and features allowing for blocking comments and excluding users from threads through blocklists stand behind arguments against the democratic inclusiveness social media platforms such as Twitter has been praised for (Marwick & Boyd, 2012; Wheatley & Vatnoey, 2019). Social media usage, while sometimes studied for its benefits in connecting people across physical boundaries, have also shown to be related to mental health issues and sleeping disorders (Jamison-Powell et. al. 2012). Studies on the use of social media in the context of critical situations further present a darker side (Alexander, 2014). To name a few negative trends, rumor propaganda, the spread of false information, and political as well as commercial purposes are recognized as the negative elements of social media in times of crisis (Alexander, 2014). In terms of online coping strategies, it has become clear that the disclosure of personal experiences can expand the support network of individuals, but it has also seen to invite backlash, which may harm the coping process (Schneider & Carpenter, 2019).

(11)

This study does not attempt to answer questions about whether the use of social media in the coping process is beneficial or not, it simply acknowledges that online coping is taking place and aims to explain the role Twitter has in the communal coping process. However, in the context of studying online communal coping, it should be kept in mind that not all coping processes involve voluntary, conscious decisions to cope at all or how to do so (Lyon, et. al., 1998). Nor are coping strategies always beneficial when facing the stressors at hand, whether done online or offline (Golbeck, 2016).

Relevant to the study of social media usage is the one of self-presentation. Erving Goffman recognizes identity as a continual performance in his seminal text “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life” (1959). Goffman suggests that individuals carefully monitor their self-presentation depending on audience and context. In a social collaborative process, individuals all take part in upholding their own and each other’s self-images, through strategies such as collectively encouraging social norms, negotiating power differentials and conflicts, and maintaining face. This approach to self-presentation becomes particularly complicated in the social context of social media platforms such as Twitter.

The social networks on Twitter are made up of follows and followers. In contrast to social media platforms such as Facebook, there is a disconnect between the two. For instance, a user may be followed by 100 000 other users but only follow 100 users or the other way around. While it is possible to make an account private – meaning its content can only be viewed by accepted followers – the majority of Twitter accounts are public (Marwick & Boyd, 2010; Jamison-Powell et. al. 2012). Functions such as retweeting and using hashtags assist in spreading content to new eyes, as well as search engines and third-party software. Users may have an idea of who their audience is, but due to the aspects of the platform mentioned above, these indications are imprecise. Not everyone who follows a user sees all of their content. Similarly, everyone who sees their content might not be a follower.

The collaborative process of self-presentation and the difficulty in correctly identifying a specific audience on social media, calls for imagined audiences (Marwick & Boyd, 2010; Choi & Bazarova 2015). These audiences stem from the various ways in which Twitter is used: as a news source, social platform, diary, marketing channel, and broadcast medium (Marwick & Boyd, 2010). While traditional broadcast audiences are viewed as an

(12)

face-to-face communication and elements of broadcast media. Social media, like broadcast media, collapse diverse social context into one, but in an interactive space where the consumers also act as amateur producers. While social media is by some viewed as a social space which encourages digital intimacy were relationships are maintained and nurtured, it is also a platform in which context collapse creates new social processes by which it’s users act (Marwick & Boyd, 2010).

The specific social environment of Twitter, in which communication about the stressor is taking place, whether defined narrowly in terms of close relationships or broadly in terms of social structure, heavily influences the studied coping process itself (Folkman & Lazarus, 1980). In contrast with face-to-face interactions, tweeters disclosing their thoughts on working from home is driven by each individual’s imagined audience and the context of Twitter as a social space. It must be taken into account that tweeting is influenced by social processes like maintaining face or self-presentation in the midst of this crisis. However, this can in itself be seen as a part in the process of coping with the stressors of working from home.

Another aspect to consider when discussing the social context of Twitter is a socio-cultural one. Studies have found that those who partake in discussion and activism online have shown to be more highly educated and more interested in the topic at hand than the average user (Schneider & Carpenter, 2018). The culture and background of tweeters affect how and if they take part in online coping. Furthermore, whether an individual part-takes in online communal coping on Twitter is dependent on that individual’s access to technology. While contemporary time is seen as the most technologically inclusive era in history, not everyone has access to online social platforms.

While there are limitations of Twitter as a platform for inclusivity, connectivity, and social development, the advantages of studying communal coping in the social context of a platform such as Twitter are clear. These will be further discussed in the methodology section. In the context of this study, Twitter can be recognized as a means for users to connect with people in their field of work, who have the same interests or are in similar situations to themselves. The studied hashtag #workfromhome connects people who are all in the same situation, facing the challenges of working from home. It is mainly used as a means to share personal

(13)

experiences and create common meaning around the phenomena of involuntary remote work due to COVID-19, rather than to drive a cause or promote change.

This is the context for which this study of Twitters role in the communal coping process takes place – with its features, significance, advantages, and limitations.

3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

In this section, the main theoretical discussion surrounding the research problem will be presented. Furthermore, the theory and concepts that are used in the analysis of the findings will be made explicit.

3.1 Contexts for Coping: Critical Situations, Crises & Disasters

According to Giddens (1984), the sense of trust in the continuity of reality and comfort in social reality amongst individuals relies on the specific connections between the day-to-day lives of the individuals and the social context of their daily routines. Routine is an essential component not only to the personality and well-being of the individual agent but is also vital to institutions of society, which in essence come to be through the reproduction of routine (Giddens, 1984, p. 60). Predictable routines and encounters are pillars of the ontological security and feeling of control involved in the foundation of day-to-day social life. The characteristics of these individual routines do not just happen but are rather made to happen through the reproduction of actions sustained by individuals in circumstances of co-presence. It is when these habitual modes of activity are hindered by external, uncontrollable

circumstances that a “critical situation” arises (Giddens, 1984, p. 64).

By studying the element of routinization, we can explore the relationship between the basic security system inherent in social activity, such as the trust and autonomy of individuals in times of change. Furthermore, we can examine the anecdotal processes that are

spontaneously created in day to day life, such as narrative tweeting about experiences to create collective meaning.

In line with Gidden’s (1984) proposed critical situations, Moos and Schaefer (1986)

(14)

In such a crisis, coping processes that arise as normal problem-solving strategies to the upsetting events at hand are insufficient. The disruption of normality, as well as the insufficiency of normal problem-solving resources, are also elements of what the United Nations (UN) defines as a disaster. According to The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) a disaster is defined as “a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources” (The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction [UNISDR], 2007).

As Giddens suggests, this study explores the phenomenon of routinization by approaching what he defines as a “critical situation” that is evident in contemporary time. The many implications of COVID-19 has brought about a state which can be recognized as a critical situation, a crisis, and/or a disaster. This deadly and highly contagious virus has contributed to the drastic shattering and undermining of established modes of accustomed daily life on a global level.

3.2 Individual, Collective & Communal Coping

There is a large body of theoretical frameworks for studying coping, both from an individual and a collective perspective. These include a hefty list of stages, components, tasks,

strategies, influences and purposes for coping, often with overlapping elements within the categories of each framework. Coping resources and responses have been recognized as a multi-dimensional set of behaviors and cognitions brought together to assist an individual in the management or toleration of demands brought forwards by the chronic or acute stressor at hand (Eckenrode, 1991). The list of these behaviors and cognitions is enormous and how these should be categorized has posed a great challenge to a researcher in the field (Eckenrode, 1991).

Indeed, the definition and nature of coping have been discussed vibrantly, but most scholars agree that it involves “conscious, purposive behaviors, or cognitions initiated in response to the experience of a chronically stressful situation or following the occurrence of a stressful life event” (Eckenrode, 1991. P. 1).

(15)

For a long time, coping was studied exclusively from an individual perspective (Lyons, et. al., 1998). These early studies recognized coping as being either a situational or a personal process, in which the individual took part in strategies to cope with the stressor at hand on their own (Aldwin, 2007). However, coping research has come to recognize that the process of coping is in essence a social one, almost always conducted within a social context

(Eckenrode, 1991; Lyons et. al., 1998; Aldwin, 2007). While it can be argued that individual coping efforts do take place, it is also widely accepted that these individual coping efforts in themselves are influenced by external factors such as the social environment of the individual (Moos & Schaefer, 1986). This is a common approach to coping, namely focusing on how individuals cope with a stressful event by making sense of the situation with a network of interpersonal relationships (Lyons, et. al., 1998). In other words, coping is closely tied to communication practices (Pennebaker & Harber, 1993). The social environment in which this communication about the stressor is taking place, whether defined narrowly in terms of close relationships or broadly in terms of social structure, heavily influences the coping process itself (Folkman & Lazarus, 1980).

A popular framework for the assessment of coping efforts has been presented by Folkman and Lazarus (1984). They identified that both emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies were used to deal with internal and external demands of coping with daily stressors. They mapped out 67 distinct responses which fall into 8 categories of coping: (1) confrontive coping (e.g., expressing anger), (2) distancing (e.g., making light of the situation), (3) self-controlling (e.g., keeping feelings to oneself), (4) seeking social support (e.g., talked to someone to find out more about the situation), (5) accepting responsibility (e.g., criticized or lectured oneself),(6) escape-avoidance (e.g., wished the situation would go away), (7) planful problem solving (e.g., making a plan of action and following it), (8) positive reappraisal (e.g., changed or grew as a person in a good way). They also found that coping efforts on the part of individuals are explicitly social in nature and that individuals will seek social support in the form of comfort or help when dealing with the stressor (Folkman & Lazarus, 1980).

Other frameworks for the tasks and strategies involved in the process of coping are presented by Lyons et. al. (1998) and Moos and Schaefer (1986). Lyons et. al. (1998) argue that there are three main components that constitute the process of communal coping, namely a communal coping orientation, communication about the stressor, and cooperative action to

(16)

address the stressor. These components can be recognized in the five major adaptive tasks which individuals and communities engage in when facing a crisis, as proposed by Moos and Schaefer (1986). The five tasks include (1) establishing the meaning and understanding the personal significance of the situation, (2) confronting reality and responding to the

requirements of the external situation, (3) sustaining relationships with family members and friends who may be helpful in resolving the crisis and its aftermath, (4) maintaining a reasonable emotional balance by managing upsetting feelings, and (5) preserving a satisfactory self-image and maintaining a sense of competence and mastery.

Alongside models and frameworks for the influences, stages, strategies, and tasks of coping explored in scholarly literature, the purpose of coping has also received much attention. Lyon et. al. (1998) approach provisions of communal coping from three perspectives: for coping with the stress, for maintenance and quality of relationships, and for the self. As will become evident in the results of this thesis, these purposes are relevant to the role Twitter plays in the communal coping process.

Lyons et. al. (1998) use the term communal coping rather than collective coping to describe the pooling of efforts and resources of several individuals to confront adversity. In the occurrence of stressful collective events such as war or natural disasters, where the lives of many are affected by the same stressor, joint efforts are required to effectively deal with the stressor. Lyons et. al. (1998) argue that while the distinction between individualistic and collectivistic functions of coping determines the degree to which the individual is focused on problem-solving for the self or the group, communal coping can be both individualistic and collectivistic. What distinguishes communal coping is the notion of sharing the weight of the stressors and joining together to cope with the problem (Lyons et. al., 1998).

At times it may be a requirement for individuals and groups to successfully confront the circumstances or/and it may be a process embedded in the social structure. The complex social dynamic and various coping processes that emerge in stressful situations call for recognition that the communal coping process may have disadvantages as well as advantages (Lyon, et. al., 1998).

In this study of the role of social media in communal coping with the common stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, a tentative approach to concepts and theories is

(17)

used. The definitions and recognized elements of coping as presented in this section were used to guide the research process. While all approaches to coping presented above were considered throughout the study, the frameworks for individual, collective, and communal coping that came to play the largest role in the final stages of the research were the ones presented by Moos and Schaefer (1986) and Lyons et. al. (1998). Their approaches to coping involve the recognition of the considerable synergy under which individual, collective, and communal coping take place. This approach and the frameworks which result in it provides guidance in identifying and exploring the patterns in the empirical data, as well as the meaning of those patterns in understanding the social processes taking place.

3.3 Humor & Coping

As will be elaborated upon in the results of this study, a common theme that became apparent within the studied data was the one of humor.

In 1979, Norman Cousins published an account of going through a serious disease and doing so through humor and laughter. Since then, much attention has been given to the importance of humor when it comes to both physical and psychological health (Martin et. al, 1993). As becomes clear in this section, humor has an outstanding significance in studies concerning coping with stress and difficult life situations.

How and why humor is a part of our lives is a broad area of research. Humor can have a large effect on the social outcome, as individual differences in humor preferences and

interpretation can lead different groups of people to perceive the underlying, serious elements of the same joke in distinctly different ways (Simis-Wilkinson et. al., 2018). Peter McGraw, a leading humor theorist, has presented the idea that humor adheres to what he and his colleges refer to as the Benign Violations Theory. In his theory, humor challenges the status quo through a violation of social norms. Violations may include physical threats (e.g., a game of peek-a-boo), communication rules (e.g., sarcasm; puns), threats to identity (e.g., insult

humor), logic (e.g., elephant jokes; absurdities), and social conventions (e.g., breaking a dress code). However, to find the “sweet spot” which makes something funny, the violation must be harmless enough to make up for the violation (McGraw, Williams, & Warren, 2013).

(18)

Figure 1: The Benign Violations Theory (McGraw & Warner, 2015)

In an overview of three studies concerning humor and social processes such as responding to difficult life events, Martin et. al (1993) found that humor has beneficial effects on how we deal with problems, as it allows us to distance ourselves from them, take them less seriously, and in doing so experience them as less distressing and threatening (Martin et. al, 1993). As will become in clear in the analysis, online humor relies heavily on that it allows for

discussion of topics that might without humor be taboo or difficult to approach.

In a more specific and recent context, Agnieszka Kruczek, & Małgorzata Anna Basińska (2018) found that humor coping with work-related stress somewhat mediates the relationship between a sense of stress at work and job satisfaction. Participants who coped partially through humor were associated with less tension at work and greater job satisfaction. This relates heavily to the study at hand, as one a major stressor of working from home will prove to be the maintaining of a work-life-balance.

These studies above have interesting implications for coping research, as it implies that humor can be beneficial in both individual but also collective and communal coping processes. These notions go hand in hand with frameworks for coping as discussed in the section on coping. For instance, the five coping tasks proposed by Moos and Schaefer (1986) include establishing meaning about the critical situation, confronting reality, sustaining

(19)

relationships, managing upset feelings, and preserving a satisfactory self-image. Based in the studies presented above, these tasks may be easier for the individual to engage in if done while using humor. In an era where individuals often publicly air their grievances through complaining and retelling negative experiences on social media platforms, it becomes

relevant to further explore what role humor has in the online coping processes taking place.

4. LITERATURE REVIEW

In the following section, the literature review of previous studies will be presented. It includes studies concerning online coping which fall in the overlapping fields of media and communication studies on the one hand and coping research on the other. Finally, the importance of these prior studies will be acknowledged and an attempt to localize this thesis within the literature will be made.

4.1 Media Studies and Coping Research

Media has previously received a great deal of attention for its role in a broad variety of social processes, not least for its role in the management of natural disasters and crises. Both social media and mass media communication have been recognized as essential tools for informing, preparing, and monitoring disasters during and throughout crises (Perez-Lugo M, 2004; Tandoc & Takahashi, 2017). A variety of these studies concerning social media and crises take a top-down approach in which social media is seen as a means for organizational coordination, recovery efforts, public relation purposes, and information dissemination (Veil et al., 2011; Sutton, 2012; Jin et al., 2014; Binder, 2012; Hughes and Palen, 2009). Studies of traditional forms of media and communication further enhance the focus on the informational functions of media, rather than the more interactive, bottom-up relief functions which can be facilitated by social platforms (Perez-Lugo, 2004).

More recently, however, social media has been studied as a tool used by victims of a variety of crises for coping with stressors caused by the critical situation, most evidently when other forms of emotional support are lacking. This shift to studying online coping efforts has followed a line of the theory which claims that coping with critical situations is in its essence

(20)

a social process, calling for an approach which views coping as collective as well as individual (Eckenrode, 1991; Lyons et. al., 1998; Aldwin, 2007).

Demonstrating the need for social orientation and the importance of communication in the process of coping, Pennebaker and Harber (1993) found that there are three communicative stages of coping which take place on social media, tested in the aftermath of natural disasters. Firstly, they identified the emergency phase in which individuals think and communicate about the stressful experience. Secondly, they present the inhibition stage in which

communication about experiences decreases but the individuals continue to think about the stressor. Thirdly, the adaptive phase occurs, in which individuals neither speak nor think of their stressful experiences.

In his study on the actual and potential use of social media in an emergency, disaster, and crisis situations, Alexander (2014) identified seven potential uses in disaster risk reduction and response: (1) Listening function, (2) monitoring the situation, (3) integration with emergency plans, (4) crowdsourcing and collaborative development, (5) creating social cohesion, (6) furtherance of causes, and (7) research. This list has communicative and social elements that can be related to frameworks for individual, collective, and communal coping. For example, the use of crowdsourcing and collaborative development relates closely to the expansion of resources and capacity for dealing with a common stressor which in itself is a purpose for communal coping (Lyons, et. al., 1998).

Social media has furthermore been used more actively by victims of natural disaster, to mobilize in the face of the crisis and collectively cope with the outcomes. In their study on how social media platforms, with their core strengths of information exchange and promotion of connectedness, were able to facilitate a source of psychological first aid in the early stages of natural disasters in Australia and New Zealand, Taylor et. al. (2012) found that “people reported feeling a sense of connectedness and usefulness, felt supported by others and felt encouraged by the help and support being given to people” through social media in the aftermath of the disasters (Taylor et al., 2012. P. 25). Similarly, Tandoc and Takahashi (2017) found that social media facilitated collective coping strategies to take place in the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Here, Facebook facilitated a platform for online collective coping. Victims of the disaster initially connected with each other to inform that they were okay and had survived, secondly confronted and

(21)

co-constructed the reality of the disaster, and thereafter used sharing their narratives on social media as a means to memorialize their experiences and move on (Tandoc & Takahashi, 2017).

Brummette and Fussel Sisco (2015) take another perspective on the need for understanding online coping, pressing on the importance of crisis managers to understand and assess the emotional state of the stakeholders involved when dealing with a crisis. In their study, they explore the use of Twitter as a means of coping with emotions after the uncontrollable crisis of a shooting at Virginia Tech University (Brummette & Fussel Sisco, 2015). Their study revealed that stakeholders indeed turned to Twitter to cope with the crises at hand, suggesting that organizations going through a crisis can turn to social media to understand and

communicate with stakeholders more efficiently in times of need.

In addition to the growing body of research concerning collective coping online, there is also an increased related focus on the ability to identify offline coping strategies through online platforms such as social media. In her analysis of 3,200 tweets using LIWC (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count), Golbeck (2016) showed that an individual’s coping styles can be inferred through analysis of their Twitter accounts. By identifying if an individual uses adaptive or maladaptive strategies to cope with difficulties, health professionals may have an advantage in their response to the patients once they seek help.

In a more specific context, Schneider and Carpenter (2018) examined #MeToo tweets in the initial phase of the global activist movement. Driven by the hashtag, the study examined descriptions of different types of experiences, self-reported coping, and the social reactions of others to the tweets. Their findings include indications that survivors of sexual harassment who disclosed their experiences online were met with a majority of support and positive social reaction. Their findings also pointed towards differentiation between the coping

strategies which victims have claimed to use in prior research and the coping strategies which were self-disclosed within the online data. Schneider and Carpenter (2018) call for a

reframing of existing coping typologies to include online interactions as a cognitive engagement strategy, arguing that studying coping strategies online allows for a more inclusive approach to data than work-place surveys or interviews have (Schneider & Carpenter, 2018). The social environment in which coping takes place is to some extent reflected on social media platforms as well. It can be argued that studies like the one above,

(22)

considering the emergence of social media platforms as outlets for social support and disclosure, have provided new dimensions within the scope of coping opportunities.

While many of the studies above point towards the benefits of online coping strategies, studies on the use of social media in critical situations also present a darker side to the attempt of online coping (Alexander, 2014). As mentioned above, coping is not always a decision actively made, and the process is rarely under closely controlled circumstances. Social media represents an outlet that can expand the social network and support system of an individual, but disclosure of personal accounts can also invite backlash which may harm the coping process as a whole (Schneider & Carpenter, 2018). Furthermore, issues such as

propaganda, the spread of false information, and political as well as commercial purposes can thwart a potential online coping process (Alexander, 2014). This darker side of social media in times of crisis further enhances the importance of studies in the area of online coping.

4.2 Localization of Thesis within the Literature & Implications

As an empirical study on the role of social media in communal coping, this thesis localizes itself in the field of media and communication studies by recognizing that a social process within a very specific context has come to move online to some extent.

Prior research on the role of media in critical situations, disaster, and crises focus on top-down approaches to uses of media in such situations, the use of traditional media in times of crisis, and the role of social media in collective coping when communities are faced with the common stressor of a local natural disaster. Additionally, studies in the area have further recognized the possibilities of identifying certain coping styles and strategies through the analysis of social media content. These prior studies have opened up the space for the approach in this study to take place, having laid the groundwork in recognizing that coping processes are indeed taking place online. This thesis studies how individuals are coping with a new reality in which every day routines take on unfamiliar shapes and present new

problems, by turning to a part of their life that has not been disrupted by the pandemic – social media usage.

(23)

This study expands the reach of the area of online coping research by exploring the process of communal coping taking place on Twitter in the context of COVID-19. In this context the network of individuals connected through the common stressor of working from home in a pandemic is unbound by geographical barriers and somewhat by cultural barriers, allowing for an inclusive approach. Simultaneously, each individual within the network is more or less physically isolated from their usual routines and social interaction, which perhaps otherwise facilitate offline platforms for communal coping. The indication that communal coping tends to take place online as well as offline, as presented in the literature above, allows this analysis to focus on how Twitter in particular is facilitating online coping with a common stressor of working from home during COVID-19.

With the changing nature of work and the ongoing uncertainty concerning the 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 which involuntary remote work creates could help

organizations respond to these stressors with possible solutions and help strengthen the coping process overall. The notion that tweeters reach out to their network in times of need may also allow for an understanding that social workspaces are needed online if offline opportunities are diminished. Facilitation of such online spaces may present opportunities for a stronger coping process, on the behalf of individuals, but may also come to be a business or growth strategy if implemented correctly. Furthermore, this study hopes to deepen our

understanding of the role which social media plays in the social process of coping and opens up for further research within the area.

5. METHODOLOGY

Guided by sensitizing concepts from the theoretical framework, the research process included several stages of inductively and deductively coding the body of data. A hermeneutic

approach was used in approaching the social world. By taking cognitive ownership of the data while remaining sensitive to methods of “good qualitative thinking” (Saldaña, 2011), an intimidate familiarity with the empirical data may assist in the recognition of details and new insights about the meaning of these details, which provides background and support for the analysis. In the following section, the details of the methodology will be addressed.

(24)

5.1 Hermeneutic Approach

The nature of this thesis, with its purpose of better understanding the social process of online communal coping, adopts a hermeneutic approach to research. The task is to engage in the interpretation of texts in the form of tweets for a deeper understanding of human behavior and communication, rather than find casual explanation and prediction, which makes a hermeneutic approach reasonable (Mills & Wiebe, 2010). From the perspective of early hermeneutic scholars, to understand anything at all involves interpretation. This prompts difficulties when approaching research as this implies that interpretation happens before understanding, which makes any research subjective and difficult to take on. In answer to issues of interpretation and understanding, “the hermeneutic circle” has been introduced. This concept is relevant to this study, as it defines the core of the methodology through which the research process takes place and evolves.

The hermeneutic circle prompts that “the parts can only be understood from an understanding of the whole but that the whole can only be understood from an understanding of the parts” (Schmidt, 2014. p. 4). Each piece of data in the body, namely each tweet, could in itself be interpreted through various modes of analysis. For instance, in-depth analysis of both the linguistics and the potential intentions and underlying meanings of each tweet could be performed. This, however, would not meet the ends of this study. The aim is rather to see the major patterns that are evident in the body of data as a whole (1500 Tweets). While an understanding and brief analysis of each tweet is needed, the results are based on analysis of the body as a whole which in the end makes up the results (as seen below).

“The traditional view of ‘the scientific method’ is that everything should be done to eliminate researchers’ ‘subjective’ influences” (Blaikie and Priest, 2017, p. 17). All proposed

methodological paradigms aim to do just this have their explicit strengths and critiqued limitations. At times, the strengths of a paradigm proposed by one scholar, are the same as the limitations of that paradigm as proposed by another (Blaikie and Priest, 2017).

To meet the limitations of any approach to the social world, it is important to make clear the epistemological assumptions. How can we access the truths in the world and how is it done in

(25)

this study? 19th-century scholar Wilhelm Dilthey’s approach to understanding and

interpreting human behavior and communication further supports the methods used in this research. He states that humans have an inner emotional and mental life, unlike objects (Mills & Wiebe, 2010). As researchers we do not have the tools to access these directly, so we must study them through empirical manifestations. This makes an approach that is very different to the natural science approach relevant.

In interpreting the data available, it is kept in mind that the author’s mindset as well as the cultural context the author is in has an impact on the interpretation process at hand. This is in answer to the critique of that hermeneutics like many approaches to social science involves a false quest for objectivity. Instead of eliminating subjective input, the researcher must attempt to be aware of prejudices, thereby making them productive. “The productive prejudices that foster should be cultivated in the dialectical relationship” (Mills & Wiebe, 2010. P. 436). All the while, “intentional fallacy” must be avoided as proposed by Jürgen Habermas (Mills & Wiebe, 2010). While the standpoint and intentions of the author cannot always be made explicit, as the author might not self be aware of these, keeping these in mind is of essence in combating the faults of the chosen hermeneutic approach. Furthermore, by using sensitizing concepts proposed by prior scholars, a researcher can make their standpoint and background understanding of the topic more explicit still.

5.2 The Role of Theory & Concepts

In a further effort to interpret and understand the context of the social world in which this thesis takes place, the role of concepts and theory must be expanded upon. While stressing the importance of identifying and clarifying concepts to connect theory with the empirical world which is being studied, a tentative approach to such concepts is relevant to the

production of empirical evidence and thought. Blumer (1954) proposes that “thoughtful study shows conclusively that the concepts of our discipline are fundamentally sensitizing

instruments” (Blumer, 1954. P. 7), putting these “sensitizing concepts” in contrast with definite concepts within theory. This approach to empirical instances allows the researcher a general sense of guidance and reference, rather than providing clearly specified benchmarks and definitions which would allow the researcher to move directly towards the relevant

(26)

content being studied. Sensitizing concepts simply gives the researcher a suggested direction along which to look in their research.

Blumer (1954) does in no way attempt to disregard the importance of clearly identified concepts but stresses the importance of maintaining a tentative manner in which researchers use these concepts in approaching the empirical world. In research within the field of social science, where the empirical world may be described as the natural social world of every-day experiences, we must accept that the definite concepts we apply to empirical instances may look very different in another context (Blumer, 1954).

In studying the role of social media in communal coping with a globally common stressor of a recognized critical situation, placed in the very specific context of the COVID-19

pandemic, theory and concepts have been used in this proposed sensitizing manner.

Sensitizing concepts guided the research process and analysis, bringing these instances closer in line with what the empirical study revealed. In other words, the role of theory and concepts in this study assisted in attempting to bring the research process in closer contact with the natural social world which was being studied.

5.3 Qualitative & Quantitative Content Analysis

Content analysis in itself is a methodologically explicit way of analyzing images or texts and can involve quantitative and qualitative procedures. Due to the nature of the analyzed body of data, as well as the research question at hand, both qualitative and quantitative analysis were used in this thesis.

The purpose of this thesis is to answer the main research question of how Twitter is being used as a platform for online communal coping with the common stressor of involuntary teleworking from home during a pandemic. As a content analysis designed to describe

messages and answer the question of how a social process is taking place online, a qualitative approach was needed (Riff, Lacy & Fico, 2013; Marwick, 2014). Qualitative content analysis looks for the ‘latent content’ in a text or image that primarily has symbolic or underlying meanings that can be systematically coded for (Hand, 2017). In qualitative research, it is common to analyze and reflect on the data from the point of collection and throughout the

(27)

project, as qualitative design, data collection, and fieldwork are most often evolutionary and emergent processes (Saldaña, 2011).

While the main method used to reach the aims of this study and answer the research

questions was qualitative content analysis, early elements of quantitative analysis were used to identify large-scale patterns and get to know the initial dataset. Quantitative analysis was used both manually and with queries performed by the software Nvivo. Firstly, quantitative coding was performed through a query to show what words were the most commonly used besides the central hashtag #workfromhome, to identify large-scale numeric patterns such as word count and related hashtags. Thereafter, each phase of coding inherently included quantitative elements, as the numeric values for each code were used to identify large-scale patterns and interrelationships in the dataset. The functional elements of Twitter which allows users to share pictures, videos, and short clips called GIFs further called for taking visual content into account when qualitatively analyzing the data.

5.4 Data Collection, Logics of Inquiry & Coding Process

The data collection process began in mid-April. The initial dataset was gathered using

NCapture, a Chrome browser add-on that saves content via the Twitter API, collecting tweets including the hashtag #workfromhome. By using the search function of Twitter, the

#workfromhomepage was found and data was collected from the page three days backward on two occasions. The first saved dataset was taken from Tuesday 14th of April and captured data from Sunday 12th of April and Monday 13th of April along with data from the day of capture. The second NCapture was put into motion on Friday 24th of April and included data from that day along with Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd of April.

These dates were chosen for several reasons. Firstly, during these two weeks in mid-April most of the world had been in lockdown and hence had been working from home for a few weeks. Each day of the week is reasonably included, but to get data from a longer period, the days were spread over two weeks. This said, there are no comparisons between days or over time in the analysis. Only the data from weekdays (Monday- Friday) were included in the final dataset for analysis.

(28)

The initial dataset consisted of 31 635 tweets. After a query was performed to remove retweets the dataset consisted of 17 876 tweets, 8086 tweets from the first week, and 9790 tweets from the second week.

Coding is the assigning of codes to raw data. This allows a researcher to engage in data simplification and reduction (DeCuir-Gunby, Marshall & McCulloch, 2011). An introductory overview of the data revealed that a very large amount of the data was marketing content, which would not serve the purpose of the analysis. Hence, the first manual coding process began on an exclude/include basis. Tweets to be included in the analysis were tweets by private users where most of the written text was in English. Excluded were the tweets posted by organizations or for marketing, as well as tweets that were in other languages than

English.

During this phase cognitive ownership of the data was being taken, as proposed by Saldaña (2011). By reading and rereading the corpus an intimate familiarity was gained with the dataset. Significant details as well as new insights about their meanings grew through early and continuous work with the data. In this initial phase of coding, patterns and relationships began taking form through the process.

Once 1500 tweets that fit the inclusion criteria and were spaced out evenly over the five chosen weekdays of the timeframe had been separated, the first quantitative element took place. A word frequency query was run in order to see what words were most frequently used along with the central hashtag #workfromhome, in order to see larger initial patterns in the data. As will become clear in the analysis, each phase of coding revealed quantitative

elements which helped distinguish large patterns which applied to many tweets from the less reoccurring pattern.

By continuously exploring the data meanwhile returning to and introducing new literature in this initial phase of coding, 24 patterns were recognized to start with, which thereafter were placed into four clusters. These codes and clustered were recognized through an inductive logic of inquiry in the first stage of the research. Induction can be defined as “what we explore and infer to be transferable from the particular to the general, based on an examination of the evidence and an accumulation of knowledge.” (Saldaña, 2011. P.93)

(29)

As expected, these codes and their clusters came to change and reshape during the second phase of coding which will be overviewed below. A circular process of coding was utilized, in the manner presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Circular process of coding (DeCuir-Gunby, Marshall & McCulloch, 2011. P. 139)

The second phase of coding consisted of manual process coding, where gerunds (ing-words) were used to capture the action taken by each tweeter. The gerunds were not applied to actions described in the tweet, but to what the user was doing by tweeting. Common for all codes were that the actions taken were forms of communication, actions requiring (or perhaps expecting) to be seen, understood, and possibly answered to by other users. These

communicative words included: Expressing, using (e.g. humor), showing, sharing, looking, offering, asking, connecting, discussing, and placing (e.g. blame and responsibility). The initial codes were placed into clusters, depending on the purpose this particular

communication (coping) could be interpreted to have. These clusters of purpose were guided, but not limited, to notions of communal coping recognized in the literature review. As

mentioned above, a sensitized approach to concepts included in the literature was held. The initial clusters included (1) users communicating about the stressor and what it means for them (expressing), (2) sharing “individual” coping efforts (sharing, using humor, showing,

(30)

looking forwards) , and (3) evident communal coping actions (asking, connecting, discussing, placing/claiming blame/ responsibility). In this phase of coding an inductive and retroductive approach was utilized in both shaping the codebook and coding the data. As Murphy (2017) put forwards, the notion of retroductive research allows the researchers to probe the data regularly with some focus on what they are looking for, rather than using solely an inductive approach. In this way, the qualitative approach to the Twitter data maintained a clear focus through categorization and solid coding schemes, while simultaneously being open to reflexive amendment as the analysis developed.

After four-fifths of the data had been coded, there was a setback due to data loss. The NVivo file bounced back to an earlier version, in which no manual coding had been performed. While this delayed the coding process, it also allowed for a reevaluation of the codes and clusters. At that point, the data was very familiar, smaller patterns had been identified against broader ones. A decision was made to make the most out of the situation and turn the setback into a third phase of coding with refined codes and clusters. After an extensive overview of the literature, as well as notes and analytical memos, a new and more detailed codebook, was created. This would come to be the final codebook and this third phase of process coding would be driven by a deductive logic of inquiry (for full Codebook, see Appendix 1).

Throughout the third phase of coding, rigorous writing of analytical memos took place. As proposed by Saldaña (2011), the codes and clusters were viewed as separate puzzle pieces which through their integration in the form of analytical memos would come to assemble a more complete picture. By keeping the main research question in mind, continuously revisiting literature and maintaining an analytical and open mindset, these analytical memos came to be.

By taking both the syntagmatic dimension and the paradigmatic dimension into account, underlying patterns, structures, and interrelationships can be tentatively explored in the surface manifestations within the empirical data at hand. Ultimately, tentative conclusions are drawn to answer the central research question of the study: How is Twitter being used as a

platform for online communal coping with the common stressor of involuntary teleworking from home during a pandemic?

(31)

5.5 Limitations

Due to the methodological approach, based on “good analytical thinking” and iterative processes of coding and interpretations led by sensitizing concepts, the replicability of the research process is questionable. While a sensitized approach to concepts and theory allows for broader opportunities for coming across new and surprising findings, it also allows for a more biased interpretation. In answer to these limitations, the methodology section includes an extensive overview of strategies implemented to combat bias and lack of replicability. Furthermore, a detailed codebook can be found in Appendix 1 to back the research performed.

Additional to the discussion of the replicability of this thesis and its findings are the contextual limitations. The use of Twitter as a platform as well as the focus on the hashtag #workfromhome frames the findings.

Conclusions drawn from the study of Twitter data must be placed in the contextual frames of contemporary time, place, social groups, language, and audience collapse which might drive the explicit trends and inherent motives that can be understood from the dataset. It should be acknowledged that the use of the label “tweeter”, which in general could refer to anyone who posts tweets to Twitter, is limited in the analysis of this study. Here the label “tweeter” does not apply to any or all tweeters, but to tweeters who post on Twitter in English and include the hashtag #workfromhome in their post. While individual information on the tweeters behind the analyzed tweets reaches beyond the scope of the analysis, a few assumptions can be made about them. Firstly, they have access to technology in order to post on Twitter. Secondly, most of them are working from home, having had the privilege of not losing their job due to the pandemic. Thirdly, while English is spoken by many who or not native to primarily English-speaking countries, we can assume that most tweets included in the data come from tweeters whose native language is English. This is strengthened by the fact that three out of the four top countries in which Twitter is used the very most have English as one of their national languages (the US, India, and the United Kingdom) (Statista, 2020). This limited application of the label “tweeter” affects the scope for which the findings of this study can be applied.

(32)

This said, there are also several advantages to the choice of Twitter in this study. Twitter’s straightforward approach to micro-blogging in which users primarily share short pieces of text, the functions of discussing issues in various threads, and the broad use of hashtags for tip specific reach served this particular study of online communal coping well. Furthermore, with advanced search opportunities, back-end functions such as Twitter Developer and the Twitter API, Twitter can be considered to be relatively research-friendly. Additionally, prior studies have found that voluntarily shared coping experiences on social media differ from those in other forms of data (Schneider & Carpenter, 2019). Hence, the collected tweets hashtagged with #workfromhome may in terms of content be a more inclusive dataset to study than would be, for instance, data from surveys or interviews. Furthermore, the collected tweets represent a broad demographic which breaks both geographical and socio-cultural boundaries, allowing for an international perspective.

Similarly, the choice of the hashtag #workfromhome and the limitations of this choice need to be acknowledged. The hashtag #workfromhome has not been recognized as an activist movement, which one could argue makes the topic a less controversial one and is perhaps therefore a relatable discussion which a larger number of users could partake in. However, during the months of lock-down due to COVID-19, several seemingly similarly used hashtags were trending on the social platform Twitter. These included hashtags concerning quarantine such as #quarentineandchill and #stayathome. Others applied to social challenges such as #showmeyourhomeoffice. There were also variations of the chosen hashtag

#workfromhome such as #workingfromhome. If the active form (working) of the hashtag would have been used instead of the imperative form (work), the results may have looked very different. As will be presented in the results section, the hashtag was not only used by those who actually were working from home but was also used in discussions about the phenomena of remote work, as well as by those searching for jobs to do online. Further research including various hashtags must be performed for conclusions on whether the communal coping process differs or looks the same across different hashtags.

If another platform and another hashtag on the topic of remote work would be studied during another period in time, the findings may look very different. Similarly, if the study would be limited to include users from a specific geographic location, focused on another language

(33)

than English, or concerned a certain age-group of the users, the study may also yield a different outcome. Further research is needed if a comparison is to be made.

The overall specific context in which this study takes place is arguably very unique. The rapid shift to an assumed to be temporary new digital society and the impact COVID-19 has had on the global workforce is unseen of. However, grounded in theory about social media and coping, the results of this study suggest that further research of online communal coping is necessary. It calls for a broader understanding of the shifts in coping as a social process in relation to communication practices, as well as the role of social media in society as a whole. While the method and findings of this thesis are contextual, its findings may direct further similar research within other contexts all the same.

5.6 Ethical Implications

Visual and textual social media data is routinely produced and circulated. Additionally, it is also reflected upon, negotiated, deleted, and analyzed by those producing it in assumed to be diverse ways. This in turn raises novel ethical questions about the consent, publicness, and proper use of found online materials (Hand, 2012). While the methods, findings, and

implications of this study can be found innocent, cases in which voluntarily shared content by social media users has been used unethically (Hinds, Joinson & Williams, 2020).

The data collected and analyzed in this thesis was produced and shared by users who have made their accounts and content public on Twitter. However, with the theory of imagined audiences in mind as presented by Marwick and Boyd (2010), it cannot be assumed that tweeters are actively aware of how the public content they share online is being used by researchers and other interested parties. By systematically downloading, coding, analyzing, and publishing public tweets, the use of the tweets can be assumed to far beyond the scope of how the tweeters intended their tweets to be used. To address this, usernames were not shared throughout the thesis and in the accompanying appendixes in order to maintain tweeter anonymity.