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Life online during the pandemic : How university students feel about abrupt mediatization

  • Szymon Zylinski ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Charles H. Davis and Florin Vladica
Published/Copyright: January 25, 2024
Communications
From the journal Communications Volume 50 Issue 2

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused university education to transition from face-to-face contacts to virtual learning environments. Young adults were forced to live an entirely new life online, without valuable and enjoyable social interaction. We examined subjective perspectives towards life online during the pandemic. We identified four viewpoints about life mediated by computers. Two viewpoints express “struggling”: Viewpoint 1 (Angry, Depressed and Overwhelmed), and Viewpoint 3 (Restricted to and Overwhelmed by Virtuality). A third feeling-state conveys experiences of “surviving”: Viewpoint 4 (Isolated and Powerless in Convenience). Surprisingly, Viewpoint 2 is about “thriving” (Comfortable and Convenient Routine with Computers). The research shows that virtualization, confinement, and anxiety are taking a toll on the mental health of some members of the younger generation, while at the same time other members feel they are thriving in a situation of limited resources, virtuality, and reduced face-to-face human interaction.

Keywords: life online; pandemic; mediatization; Q methodology; university students

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Published Online: 2024-01-25
Published in Print: 2025-05-28

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Titelseiten
  2. Articles
  3. Communication and academic burnout: The effects of social support and participation in decision-making
  4. With time comes trust? The development of misinformation perceptions related to COVID-19 over a six-month period: Evidence from a five-wave panel survey study in the Netherlands
  5. A qualitative examination of (political) media diets across age cohorts in five countries
  6. Oldies but goldies? Comparing the trustworthiness and credibility of ‘new’ and ‘old’ information intermediaries
  7. Life online during the pandemic : How university students feel about abrupt mediatization
  8. Publishing strategies and professional demarcations: Enacting media logic(s) in European academic climate communication through open letters
  9. International cooperation on (counter)publics between tradition and reorientation: Social democracy and its media in the Cold War era
  10. The Silicon Valley paradox: A qualitative interview study on the social, cultural, and ideological foundations of a global innovation center
  11. Quality and conflicts of communication consulting: Demystifying the concept and current practices based on a study of consultants and clients across Europe
  12. Hate speech mainstreaming in the Greek virtual public sphere: A quantitative and qualitative approach
  13. Examining the spread of disinformation on Facebook during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic: A case study in Switzerland
  14. COVID-19 vaccine reviews on YouTube: What do they say?
  15. It’s the political economy after all: Implications of the case of Israel’s media system transition on the theory of media systems
  16. Periods of upheaval and their effect on mediatized ways of life: Changes in media use in the wake of separation, new partnership, children leaving the parental home, and relocation
  17. Solving the crisis with “do-it-yourself heroes”? The media coverage on pioneer communities, Covid-19, and technological solutionism
  18. What makes audiences resilient to disinformation? Integrating micro, meso, and macro factors based on a systematic literature review
  19. “That’s just, like, your opinion” – European citizens’ ability to distinguish factual information from opinion
  20. Book reviews
  21. Cuelenaere, E., Willems, G., & Joye, S. (Eds.) (2021). European film remakes. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474460668. 272 pp.
  22. Cushion, S. (2024). Beyond mainstream media: Alternative media and the future of journalism. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003360865. 193 pp.
  23. Frau-Meigs, D., & Corbu, N. (2024). Disinformation debunked: Building resilience through media and information literacy. Routledge. 328 pp. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003387404
https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2023-0024
Keywords for this article
life online; pandemic; mediatization; Q methodology; university students

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Titelseiten
  2. Articles
  3. Communication and academic burnout: The effects of social support and participation in decision-making
  4. With time comes trust? The development of misinformation perceptions related to COVID-19 over a six-month period: Evidence from a five-wave panel survey study in the Netherlands
  5. A qualitative examination of (political) media diets across age cohorts in five countries
  6. Oldies but goldies? Comparing the trustworthiness and credibility of ‘new’ and ‘old’ information intermediaries
  7. Life online during the pandemic : How university students feel about abrupt mediatization
  8. Publishing strategies and professional demarcations: Enacting media logic(s) in European academic climate communication through open letters
  9. International cooperation on (counter)publics between tradition and reorientation: Social democracy and its media in the Cold War era
  10. The Silicon Valley paradox: A qualitative interview study on the social, cultural, and ideological foundations of a global innovation center
  11. Quality and conflicts of communication consulting: Demystifying the concept and current practices based on a study of consultants and clients across Europe
  12. Hate speech mainstreaming in the Greek virtual public sphere: A quantitative and qualitative approach
  13. Examining the spread of disinformation on Facebook during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic: A case study in Switzerland
  14. COVID-19 vaccine reviews on YouTube: What do they say?
  15. It’s the political economy after all: Implications of the case of Israel’s media system transition on the theory of media systems
  16. Periods of upheaval and their effect on mediatized ways of life: Changes in media use in the wake of separation, new partnership, children leaving the parental home, and relocation
  17. Solving the crisis with “do-it-yourself heroes”? The media coverage on pioneer communities, Covid-19, and technological solutionism
  18. What makes audiences resilient to disinformation? Integrating micro, meso, and macro factors based on a systematic literature review
  19. “That’s just, like, your opinion” – European citizens’ ability to distinguish factual information from opinion
  20. Book reviews
  21. Cuelenaere, E., Willems, G., & Joye, S. (Eds.) (2021). European film remakes. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474460668. 272 pp.
  22. Cushion, S. (2024). Beyond mainstream media: Alternative media and the future of journalism. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003360865. 193 pp.
  23. Frau-Meigs, D., & Corbu, N. (2024). Disinformation debunked: Building resilience through media and information literacy. Routledge. 328 pp. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003387404
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