Paper short abstract:

Covid-19 forced us to be innovative in our fieldwork approach. As anthropologists we practised ‘online ethnography’ and followed the global conversation on Twitter to discover disease narratives on topics such as ‘one size fits all’ pandemic responses and narratives related to ‘Disease X’ in Africa.

Paper long abstract:

As members of the Pandemic Preparedness Project, a social science investigation that focuses on tackling disease threats in Africa, we were already examining social discourse about pandemics when Covid-19 struck. The emergence of this public health threat meant that we were now practicing anthropology in the midst of a health emergency. As a team used to conducting in-person fieldwork, we pivoted to ‘online ethnography’.

Technology has been key to our approach; Covid-19 is the first pandemic in which digital technology and social media are being used on a massive scale to keep people safe, informed, productive and connected. These innovations have allowed us to continue conducting anthropological fieldwork on the social responses to infectious disease and provided a new terrain for analysis. While online technology brings people together and educates, it also amplifies misinformation and disinformation that undermines the global response and jeopardizes pandemic control measures.

We conducted research using online ethnography, including social media listening and online searches on two different topics: 1) the mobilization of WHO’s concept of ‘Disease X’ online before and during Covid-19; and 2) the circulation of online narratives about unequal outcomes produced by ‘one-size-fits all’ Covid-19 response and lockdowns in Africa. We identified narratives that demonstrate divergent understandings of illness and health policy, with consequences for disease eradication and impacts on livelihoods, health and poverty. In this presentation, we overview the findings from these studies and share reflections about the challenges and advantages of ‘online ethnography’ during a pandemic.