Creative Production of ‘COVID-19 Social Distancing’ Narratives on Social Media

Abstract

This paper offers an insight into the role of young people in shifting risk perception of the current global pandemic, COVID-19, via social distancing narratives on social media. Young people are creatively and affectively supporting the social distancing initiatives in Brunei Darussalam through the use of social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok. Using qualitative content analysis (QCA) data of social media content by Bruneian youth, this paper reveals the localised and contextualised creative production of five ‘social distancing’ narratives as a response to the national and global concerns in times of a global pandemic: narrative of fear; narrative of responsibility; narrative of annoyance; narrative of fun; and narrative of resistance. This paper reflects on three key socio-cultural reconfigurations that have broader implications beyond the COVID-19 crisis: new youth spatialities and social engagements; youth leadership in development; and consideration of social participation and reach in risk communication.