As a result of quantitative and qualitative analysis of my sample of blog posts from The Mighty, I have noticed three themes: COVID isolation and suicidality, pain vs. hope, and stigmatization. The discussion of suicide in The Mighty blog posts experienced some changes before, during, and after COVID-19. Surprisingly I found that engagement in the posts decreased throughout the periods. I found that the average number of likes decreased during each period. In 2018-2019 the average like count was 2,465, in 2020-2021 the average like count was 1,576, and in 2022-2023 the average like count was 104. This may indicate that during and after COVID-19, blog posts became less relatable or interesting to consumers.
Social Distancing, June Marie, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0