Abstract
In recent years, mobile media applications have become a significant resource for crisis communication and communal coping during natural disasters and wars. Drawing on communal coping and media affordance research, we examined the roles that a WhatsApp group plays for mothers living in an ongoing conflict area. We examined, through in-depth interviews, a local WhatsApp group operating in a community adjacent to the Israel–Gaza border. Findings revealed the unique emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies people use when facing ongoing threats. Four affordances—immediacy, reachability, mobility, and multimediality—contributed to WhatsApp’s role as a shared and ubiquitous coping resource. This study demonstrates the ways in which instant messaging communication affordances contribute to communal coping strategies in ongoing conflict areas.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3-20 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Mobile Media and Communication |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Jan 2022 |
Keywords
- Mobile media apps
- affordances
- communal coping
- crisis communication
- online communities
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication
- Media Technology
- Computer Networks and Communications