SOCIAL MEDIA: A BOON DURING LOCKDOWN

October 11, 2020

Buzz word in today’s scenario is social media. In this modern era of growing digitisation, social media has slowly gained pace and importance in daily life of individuals. Effect and importance of social media has been more prominent in present situation of COVID-19 pandemic where all have been caught in the tornedo of unprecedented life style change.

In present situation which one had never imagined, happened and spread like wildfire across the globe i.e. the Corona virus. Indian Government took drastic measures to present spread of COVID-19 and imposed lockdown across the country beside other measures. In the past only maybe due to law and enforcement, curfews were imposed for a limited time and that too for a very specific region. Lockdown was something undreamt off. All were forced to be in their homes to prevent mass gathering and chain reaction of corona virus infection. Individuals with defined schedules were found wanting due to lockdown not clearly knowing how to combat the situation at hand. Interstate, international travels all got stopped. The communication media kept broadcasting daily updates on severity of COVID-19. The situation made people fear for their near and dear ones who were away in different cities and countries. Only way to be in touch in old times was snail mail and later mobile communication setup. With the advent of internet and matured mobile communication setup, sites for social media started to evolve. Sites like Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and numerous others came into existence and people started using them to socially interact with each other. WhatsApp, Google meet, Zoom etc., also became popular. Many new use of such apps came into existence. Students especially in India started having online education and evaluation, video chats in groups became popular. Business thrived on such platforms. With secure digitisation, E-commerce activity coupled to social media gave place to rapid growth of online market and purchase. People could effectively use Social media during this pandemic and it came as a blessing during lockdown where people remained in contact and tried to help each other even though being at different places.

Sonu Sood could manage to arrange transport for the stranded persons enabling them to reach their home towns by effectively using the social media for collecting & dispersing information to individuals about travel plan, travel date etc. Many other organisations could manage to render support to people in need at various places using these social sites.

There has not been one day since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a public health emergency that we have not come across messages, memes or videos related to COVID-19 going viral on social media. Added to it is the plethora of information about the outbreak statistics (number of cases, casualties in every single geographical distribution, etc.) being fed to the people 24/7 daily. We are also getting health related details of our family and friends as social media has benefitted us in maintaining these connections and interpersonal relationships.

As billions are isolated or quarantined in their homes in an attempt to stay safe from the infection, digital screen time has increased. Information bank about COVID-19 every single day adds to the already existing uncertainty and panic about the virus and lockdown. People have often been seen with their eyes glued to their televisions, laptops or mobile screens, busy consuming news feeds related to the coronavirus.

Children and adolescents exposed to more online time tend to develop technology and gaming addiction. This situation affected the academics of many students. But through social media, it was possible for teachers to take lectures and explain theory subjects to students. There are many social applications, mainly like Google meet, Microsoft teams, etc., through these video calling applications many teachers conduct lectures from home. Many online workshops, numerous webinars and ample interaction sessions were also held through different social media platforms. There were many online courses for students to participate in and attain knowledge. Offline coaching institutes have also started sharing their course materials online. People even started their business and its promotion on these sites. Shop owners from Chandi Chowk Delhi, have started advertising their products on media platforms and from finalization to dealings of the products, everything is done using mostly WhatsApp. With hundreds of millions of people under lockdown around the world, telecommunication usage went up. People have been connecting in new social ways, hosting virtual birthday parties, sharing their good moments and reunions with friends who haven’t connected in decades. This not only depicted the professional but also dealt with personal relationship building.

Under normal circumstances, we tend to turn to friends and family when there’s a sense of urgency or crisis. And since in present situation many of us are cut off from normal social interaction, we are opting for voice and video calls as the next best thing.

The pandemic means that we all have something in common to talk about, which is leading to reconnections. Even if we neglected to keep in touch with someone over months or years, it’s almost certain that people will speak to you now if you pick up the phone and call. And since we are having more meaningful, deeper conversations, we feel more connected to the person we are speaking to.

Someone has rightly said that hardships often lead to the greatest moments of our lives. No one ever thought that due to any reason people will get so much time to spend with their families and create stronger bonds. In this pandemic when people were scared from the word positive, a vibe of positivity was dwelling within them in being close to their family members, sharing beautiful bonds, building connections over social media, valuing the freedom given to us, and making interpersonal relationships.