Altered Rhythms of Ramadan: Temporalities of Social Media Non/Use during COVID-19

This article explores how the relational context of religious rituals and practices and pandemic-induced stay-at-home orders shape the socio-temporal organization of young Muslims’ everyday social media engagement during Ramadan under COVID-19. We collected semi-structured interviews with 22 self-identified Muslims who observed Ramadan during the pandemic (in 2020 and 2021). Our findings point to the impacts of COVID-19 and related public health measures in the formation of the participants’ psyche about their observance of Ramadan in 2020 and 2021. Drawing on the concept of socio-temporal rhythms in everyday life practices, we map the temporal patterning of their everyday religious rituals and practices onto their social media (dis)engagement, as enabled or constrained by pandemic restrictions.