Social Construct of Coronavirus and Its Crisis-Coping Strategies: Case Study of Online Users

When a macro-level problem directly or indirectly affects the majority of people in a society, behaviors and attitudes would probably reflect the public attitude of society. In such conditions, researchers can provide policy makers with suggestions by identifying and studying collective attitudes and behaviors in different areas. Coronavirus epidemic created a social construct that can influence policy-making process in various fields. The aim of this paper is to study the social construct of coronavirus epidemic in Iran and the policies against it, among Internet users, in a period of 50 days (from the beginning of March to April 10, 2020). Thematic analysis was used to analyze the collected data in this qualitative research. The results of the study are presented in three main categorie s (i.e., “context for intensification of epidemic”, “interaction between the state and the citizens in the face of epidemic” and “strategies for disease containment”) and various subcategories and concepts. The results of this study shows a relatively critical attitude among users towards the performance of the state and the people in the fight against corona. Among all solutions, following the hygiene tips and heeding intra/intercity transport restrictions seemed more important to internet users. This study demonstrates the need to use people’s capacities to contain corona epidemic.