‘It is just a tweet … do not take it seriously!’ Humour posts on Twitter during coronavirus: The case of Kuwait

Abstract

The uncertainty of the COVID-19 virus outbreak triggered chaos, panic and fear worldwide. During the outbreak, many humorous posts tweeted and retweeted addressed the virus with a laugh. Humour is a way to escape reality, but at the same time it may have negative outcomes. In Kuwait, many such posts spread on social media, especially Twitter. They reduced panic, educated the public or made people ignore the seriousness of the pandemic. This study investigates the negative implications of using humorous text, images and video messages on Twitter. A qualitative discourse analysis of 907 humorous texts, images and videos posted on Twitter during the crisis revealed that humorous posts may foster negative attitudes concerning sectarianism, tribalism, racism, sexism and hatred. Interestingly, humorous posts in less emotionally charged categories, such as sports, family and children, also include many negative connotations and denotations. This study is unique in addressing an understudied area; humour on social media in the Arab and Gulf region. Its findings show that humorous posts can produce negative outcomes and cause fear and hatred in society. There may be a need for self-censorship and moral behaviour to prevent social tension. The notion that jokes are only jokes and people should not be offended may have unforeseen negative repercussions.