Exploring Utilisation of Memes Among Older People of Roysambu During The Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenya

Abstract

This communication study investigated the utilization of COVID-19 memes among older people of Roysambu during the pandemic in Kenya. The problem that spurred the study was the fact that older people were presented in the literature as the most vulnerable group to the Coronavirus and as such might be made further vulnerable through their exposure to memes highlighted as one of the means through which misinformation and disinformation were circulated during the pandemic. Three research objectives namely to establish how older people of Roysambu were exposed to COVID-19 memes; to explore how older people of Roysambu used the COVID-19 memes they were exposed to and to find out the concerns that older people of Roysambu had about COVID-19 meme b s. The study utilized an exploratory research design from a qualitative research approach. While the study population comprised, older people aged 60 and above residents in Roysambu, the study used purposeful sampling (which is a non-probability sampling technique) to recruit participants into the study. Qualitative primary data were collected from the participants in Goshen Garden in Roysambu using interviews as a research tool. Data was collected from 18 participants (5 men and 13 women) and thus these participants constituted the study’s sample size. The interview data were analyzed using a type of qualitative data analysis method known as thematic analysis. the study found that i) participants were actively exposed to COVID-19 memes, mainly through social media platforms (e.g., Facebook) and instant messaging applications (e.g., WhatsApp), ii) memes were used for entertainment (i.e., instrumental value) and information literacy, iii) participants were concerned that the memes trivialized the crisis, amplified fear, and lacking in detail. The study concluded that older people of Roysambu were actively engaged in the utilization of COVID-19 memes. Some key recommendation made were that meme creators should be sensitive to people’s feelings to avoid escalating fear among the populace; memes should be used by their creators and public health practitioners as one of the means of public health literacy during epidemic and pandemic, and language of meme creation and circulation should be sensitive of different audiences.