Social Connections of Black American College Students Pre- and Peri-COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Network Analysis (Preprint)

Abstract

A global-scale pandemic, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, greatly impacted communities of color. Moreover, the social distancing imposed during the pandemic negatively affected people’s sense of social connection, especially among the youth. More research is needed on intersectional minoritized communities’ online activities, such as the young Black generation’s collective online social behaviors.

We aim to examine whether there are any differences in the social network characteristics over the pandemic periods (pre-COVID-19 pandemic vs. peri-COVID-19 pandemic) for Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCU) students who have posted a depression-related (d-r) tweet or retweet on their timeline, and those who have not (non-d-r), and to understand collective patterns of these groups.

We analyzed the social networks on Twitter, currently known as X, of HBCU students by comparing pre- and peri-COVID data. The depression-related (d-r) group included 508 users, and the non-depression-related (non-d-r) group had 512 users.

Online social activities of HBCU students with d-r tweets showed different structural changes from those with non-d-r tweets over the pandemic: users with d-r tweets sought more mutual relationships and tried to connect with other users who also posted d-r tweets. Collectively, HBCU students’ online networks were congruent with their institutional affiliation during the pandemic, however, the increased agreement with physical affiliations mostly comes from the non-d-r group’s friendship network changes. The d-r group tended to preserve affiliation congruency during the pandemic and maintain connections with other depression-related users more.

The findings of this study provided insight into the social media activity of HBCU students’ social networks with d-r tweet status. Future social media interventions focused on Black college students’ mental health may focus efforts on providing resources to students who communicate about depression. Efforts aimed at providing relevant resources and information to online communities that share institutional affiliation may enhance access to social support, particularly for those who may not proactively seek assistance. This approach may contribute to increased social support for individuals within these communities, especially those with a limited social capacity.