Sixth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie industry was already concerned about competing with streaming media and dropping box office results. Once the pandemic hit, moviegoers realized “you don’t know what you got till it’s gone” and the use of the hashtag #movietheater was employed to in nostalgic longing for “normalcy” and the communal act of going to the movies. Through the application of bona fide group perspective, social action media studies and interpretive community, one can see that #movietheater on Instagram is a unique group consisting of film fans of all walks of life, theater owners - for both international chains and local arthouses - that have kept up each others’ livelihood and helped all cope with the worldwide pandemic.