Social representations of Coronavirus in Brazil: first months of the pandemic

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the social representations of Internet users, from comments to reports on Coronavirus in the first months of the pandemic in Brazil. The research has an analytical-exploratory character, with a quantitative and qualitative approach. The data was processed by textual analysis software for subsequent examination of the content. From the selected speeches, three classes emerged - Coronavirus: politics, health and society, Distrust of statistics and Disregard for the president. The results highlight different ways of anchoring these social representations and suggest the vitality of a theoretical classification paradigm that gives value to objects, people or phenomena, ranking them in order of importance. In this study, social representations were based on negative values, and their senses converged to a unique image of discredit in institutions, governments and the media. This scenario is especially worrying because of the gravity of the crisis resulting from the pandemic in Brazil and says a lot about the past and the future of the country.