The Covid-19 Internet
There doesn’t seem to major debate (in this weeks readings or in conversation) that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed our social lives in a major way. For most of us, the opportunities to see people outside of those we live and work with have been decreased significantly. Even when events are done with social distancing in mind, the work that goes into it has increased. With this, our time on the internet has increased. We are trying to connect to each other in new ways. One major way I have witnessed online connections, socially and academically, is Zoom. This allows you to video conference with as many people as you would like at once, with fairly little effort. I have also been using TikTok and Twitter at much higher rates than I was prior to the pandemic.
I found the discussion around our increased use very interesting, particularly when discussing our motivation for spending more time on social media. Some of the motivation is social interaction, making connections with people we are unable to see physically. Another motivator is filling the time we didn’t have before the pandemic (trying to fight off boredom). I think the two go hand-in-hand at times, even if we are not using the platforms for social connection, we are using our extra time to connect with something online. This can look like just about anything, as long as it helps the time move.
To make this time we spend more joyful and impactful, there is a lot of good to be done on social media. I have seen a lot of uplifting messages on Instragram stories and twitter. I have seen people reaching out to others in new ways and seeking connections like they never did in the past. As we saw in the video, musicians have been streaming to their fans because they are not able to preform as they once did. One thing I have witnessed in my personal life is free yoga and workout classes from studios that used to be in person. As we are all stuck inside, we can do something good for our body and good for our mental health. Especially when yoga and work out classes can be rather exclusive in price, they became a little more inclusive for a particularly hard time.
