Abstract
The concept of “social distancing” gained particular currency during the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming one of the keys and also widely used terms. The article focuses on the category of social distancing as a new determinant of spatial relations and explains its origins and roots in proxemics studies. Attention was also focused on contemporary visual representations of this concept, including those with humorous messages. The analysis of graphic materials referring to social distancing indicates that their aim is to encourage the recipients to maintain a safe distance, but at the same time to “warm up” the meaning of the term, which after all evokes negative associations of separation. About 200 covid masks referring to the category of social distancing and its other visual representations drawn from the Internet were analyzed.