Tales of Love and Pandemic: An Example of Small Data Research on Wattpad

The main argument of the chapter is the analysis of the reading and writing behaviour on Wattpad dur- ing the phases of lockdown in Italy for the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic represents the first great event of ‘data society’ reactions making several authors reflect on various aspects and thoughts about social impact of tech ecosystems. Nowadays, it becomes essential to understand the role that digital technologies and media have had to soothe feelings related to social isolation and physical distancing measures. Thus, as widely acknowledged, besides providing data for social research in many aspects of life, the digital context also suggests above all innovated methods enforced by the physical distancing. This research has explored about 600 stories edited on Wattpad that have been selected through the query “Covid.” The aim of the analysis is to map collective imaginary of users about the COVID-19 pandemic within a digital medium for fanfiction, combining three fundamental approaches of digital methods.