The COVID-19 storytelling narratives of Nigerian social media users

Abstract

ABSTRACT Studies on the storytelling narratives of social media users have understandably emphasized the typology, interpersonal dynamics, trust, and disinformation that emanate from these virtual communities. This study extends this scholarly conversation by investigating both the storytelling and the narratives generated by Nigerian social media communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Communication Infrastructure Theory served as framework, while a mixed method triangulation was employed. During a 3-month (May 2 to August 3, 2020) digital ethnographic participant-observation, a total of 153 manually purposive samples from social media (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) were analyzed. Twenty themes emerged from the quantitative content analysis of the COVID-19 storytelling of Nigerian social media users. Findings also showed multilayered digital storytelling narratives that possessed popular validity, debunked disinformation, and provided narratives that mitigated the spread of coronavirus. The findings also suggest that applying journalistic contextual knowledge on the COVID-19 social media storytelling narratives provided credible news sources for media stories.