What's happening? : displaying Filipino families on twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic

Date

6-2023

Degree

Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

College

College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Rowena P. De Guzman

Abstract

Family display is a concept central to contemporary sociological studies. Drawing from the notions of 'doing' family, the concept views family as necessarily constituted by their relationships, practices, and 'tools' of displaying. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the lives of many Filipino families were ultimately altered. As they faced uncertainty with the COVID-19 crisis and the ever-evolving society, the question of how families are now being formed and maintained both in their daily lives and in online platforms is raised. This paper dives into this topic by analyzing Filipino family displays on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing a qualitative content analysis approach, and using Twitter Advanced Search, 462 tweets with the "family(-related)" keywords were analyzed The results show that Twitter served as an 'enabler' of family displays, which mirrored and allowed display elements of relevant audiences and periods of intensity to manifest on the platform. Tweets were particularly deemed as 'tools' to display Filipino families on Twitter as they detailed (micro)narratives and information about the family during the pandemic. The tweets show that there were two broad categories of Filipino families: traditional and nontraditional. Despite being sorted based on how they relate to the conventional family kinship structure, both categories fell into similar patterns of 'doing' and 'displaying' families. Filipino families mostly exhibited displays of 'doing good', entailing the ways in which they practiced care, love, support, and responsibility through their family activities, events, interactions, and tools. On the other hand, some chose to keep their presentations real on Twitter by doing displays of 'not family', disclosing the realities of imperfections and struggles behind being a Filipino family. By adhering or challenging to the notions of normative family actions, Filipino families and their Twitter displays become inextricably linked with the wider social meanings of what it means to be a family. Through this study, the role and importance of Twitter as an online platform for sharing family information and family displays during the pandemic is also revealed.

Language

English

LC Subject

COVID-19 (Disease) -- Social aspects Family -- Social aspects Social media and society

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2023 S7 P53

Document Type

Thesis

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