ABSTRACT
In the midst of writing this book, Covid-19 emerged as a global pandemic that changed the way we work, socialize, and function in daily life. We suddenly found ourselves quarantined, unable to see our friends and loved ones except online. In order to understand the effect on college students, the authors gathered data from student essays describing their experiences with social media amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, the authors wondered how the pandemic and quarantine had affected students’ relationship with social media in terms of frequency of use and sites where they spent the most time. This chapter explores the extent to which social media came to serve a different purpose for college students when it became their only, or at least, primary way of interacting with friends. The authors discuss what students said about the symbolic nature of posts with regard to masks and social gatherings, the heightened surveillance of friends and family on social media, the changing nature of social comparsion during quarantine, and how posting behaviors affected friendships during the pandemic. This chapter expands the understanding of risks associated with social media use and online sociality among youth, complicating the discourses that have emerged in popular culture.
