Caremongering in Canada During COVID-19

Dr. Slick used Internal Grant for Research funds for a study into the practice of “Caremongering” in social media through the lens of disaster management and crisis informatics fields.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly social media, are influencing the characteristics of citizen response to disasters and crises. These technologies have been used by citizen’s in their response to COVID-19. Within the Canadian context, “Caremongering” groups using the Facebook platform have been formed in large and small communities across Canada as a way of supporting citizen-to-citizen response to the pandemic. This study will examine the nature and activities of Caremongering and other hyperlocal Facebook groups created during the pandemic in the Canadian context. This research contributes to knowledge in the disaster management and crisis informatics fields.