Photographs, Visual Memes, and Viral Videos: Visual Phatic News Sharing on WhatsApp during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain, Italy, and The Netherlands

• Published in: Digital journalism Vol. 12; no. 5; pp. 656 - 679
• Main Authors: Hagedoorn, Berber, Costa, Elisabetta, Esteve-del-Valle, Marc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 27.05.2024
• Subjects: (audio)visual materials; COVID-19 pandemic; in-depth interviews; phatic news sharing; sociability; thematic analysis; visual news-related content; WhatsApp

Sharing and discussing visual images in WhatsApp groups functions as a form of phatic news sharing to achieve a sense of togetherness and sociability. We explore how visual media content shared in personal WhatsApp interactions during the first strict lockdown months of the COVID-19 pandemic functio...