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    ItemOpen Access
    Internet and New Media Use by Central Asian Citizens Before and Towards the End of the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (SDU Journal of Media Studies, 2025) Yerkebulan Sairambay
    This research examines the differences and similarities in the Internet, chat room, messenger, and social media use by citizens in Central Asia before and towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Five stans –Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan –have varying levels of authoritarianism and media usage, especially new media use, might differ among these countries. Drawing on Central Asia Barometer, I demonstrate such comparisons over three years using data collected in 2019 and 2022. In addition to this, I also analyse the frequencies of Internet use by Central Asian people and which chat rooms, messengers, and social media were used most often in the region. The results and analysis show that by the end of the pandemic, citizensof all five republics began to use the Internet more, albeit in different volumes, compared to 2019. Accordingly, the frequency of use of new media (chat rooms, messengers, and social media) was also positive with varying degrees of difference.Possible explanations for these results and the usefulness of this study are discussed.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Social Media Humor and Loneliness during COVID-19 Quarantine: Experiences of Asian Students in Japan
    (SDU University, 2026) Serdaly D.
    The COVID-19 pandemic radically disrupted social life, intensifying experiences of loneliness for many university students. This qualitative study examines how Asian students studying at Japanese universities experienced loneliness during the pandemic, and how humorous content on social media supported their emotional coping. Drawing on a narrative approach and semi-structured interviews, this study included in-depth interviews with five students from Japan, India, the Philippines, Turkey, and Kazakhstan who were enrolled in Japanese universities between March and December 2020. Timelines of “a typical day in quarantine” and narrative sketches were developed for each participant, focusing on their everyday rhythms, social ties, and media practices. The findings show that loneliness emerged not only from physical isolation and closed borders, but also from disrupted routines, cancelled rituals, and uncertainty about the future. Participants turned to familiar humorous series, memes, and short videos as a way to “escape,” feel “lighter,” and maintain mediated togetherness with distant friends and family. Humor on social media did not remove loneliness, but helped participants reframe it, soften emotional overload, and sustain a sense of shared experience across distance. The article argues that social media humor can act as a form of affective companionship and low-threshold emotional support for international and domestic students in times of crisis.