Black Digital Spaces and the Pandemic: The Development of Black Social Presence Theory

During the ongoing global health crisis of Coronavirus (COVID-19) selected communications methods were used in an attempt to disseminate information various communities. The aim of this research is to understand and contextualize the behavior of Black people towards Information and Communication Technology (ICT) communication tools and social media technologies during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to aid with the confrontation of misinformation and disinformation. Research communities across various social science fields have acknowledged the prospect of using social media as a research method, or tool, for data collection and analysis of various types of data (e.g., text, images, and video) more efficiently than in traditional qualitative research methods. However, the information systems (IS) research community has not yet adequately engaged in the methodological process of researching social media and communication technologies, and the subsequent implications for theory building from the Black perspective. Therefore, this study attempts to contribute to the field of study in which the literature is thin and few Black communication theories exist and are developed.