One by one, each and every major cultural institution locked the doors and suspended service until a date that was simply left as TBD. The NBA nd a game minutes before tip-off, schools across the nation and at all levels traded whiteboards for webcams, and everything reached a standstill.
This had quite a unique residual effect: everyone turned to the internet. Whether it was to create a bit of a distraction from the stressful environment we were all tossed into, a literal distraction from computer-based work/school, or just a way to kill time that would instead be spent doing things that were now nowhere-to-be-found.
Large media companies expected an increase in usage, and it was certainly warranted, as consumers did as well (Clement, 2020), with a heavy focus on social platforms and streaming. Verizon’s CEO Hans Vestberg reported the company saw a 20% increase in general traffic in the first week of usage, and by April 2020, searches for related to entertainment like “Netflix” or “PS4 for sale” reached peak interest levels (via Google Trends).
Even Congress chose to move to a remote system. Some meetings Representatives were able to place up to 10 votes for their peers, and the system was designed with the intent of providing safe voting practices regarding health and transparency.
There’s obviously much more nuance to this past 5 months than just Congress moving online though.
Indirectly, this increased internet usage allows for increased dialogue and viewership, which has created an environment where our world is more interconnected than ever before. With most vices like music and sports canceled, eyes turned to other platforms such as social issues, politics, and marble runs.
There were a few cultural events that foreshadowed the eventual focus on political subjects, but none that quite parallel the size of what we would eventually see. Millions tuned in to ESPN to watch The Last Dance, anyone with a general interest in football waited anxiously for Tom Brady to announce his free agency decision, and music fans flocked to attend virtual concerts inside of video games, which some dubbed “Couch-ella”.
Gaming web traffic went up 75% in March, and streaming services saw a 12% rise in usage.
Social media ran amuck with content showing new fresh ways to kill time during quarantine, and more people were liking and sharing than before.
Our online presence as a country had much more of an impact beyond increased web traffic in entertainment categories.
In late May, when the typical year would see millions tune into the NBA and NHL Finals, attend Memorial Day Celebrations, and enjoy the onset of summer, we saw a much different and much
more profound focus as a country. Instead, we turned our attention towards the heinous acts committed by police towards George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Millions of voices were chiming in about their disdain and researching deeply seeded social issues and their effects on marginalized groups, which allowed for real progress to be made. Without distractions from other world events, something like this was truly able to shine. Newsfeeds weren’t washed out with Red Sox scores and trades, people were not pre-occupied with the work and travel load of everyday life, and voices were heard.
According to Google Trends, George Floyd reached over 3-times higher of an interest level in their search engine than Donald Trump has in the past year, and 4-times higher than international soccer star Lionel Messi ever has.
Compared to other victims of heinous police acts, George Floyd’s death provoked a much larger response from the nation and world. Widespread protests lasted weeks and are still going on in some areas. Tangible change is being made and will continue to be made until we live in a world where everyone can exist safely.
And all of this happened because we were online. Anyone who gave even the slightest thought to the aforementioned issue of police brutality learned and spoke out more than they ever could have if life went as planned this Spring. Millions participated in “Blackout Tuesday”, which was dedicated to putting a stop to different media outlets on June 2nd with the goal of moving attention towards social issues. In seemingly every town I drove through while going to work or running errands, I saw a protest in some way shape or form. People took to the internet and the streets with their newfound time, becoming catalysts for change.
No one would’ve had time to make their voice heard by writing to a politician if they were focused on their upcoming final exam, no one would’ve been able to get a protest together if their boss was hounding them about TPS reports, and the world would’ve quickly moved on to the next piece in the 24-hour news cycle.
The internet of things has always been amazing, and this past Spring, it proved yet again to be a vital part of not only our everyday life, but also progress in our country.
It will continue to change how we exit the pandemic as well. We are eyeing a Presidential Election in November, where candidates’ teams are looking at a much different battleground than before. The Democratic National Convention has begun to focus on capitalizing on this digital boom, and the Republican National Convention acknowledges that things are mightily different this year, and even thinks phone calls are more successful now than in years before.
The pandemic isn’t showing many signs of wavering, but neither is the internet’s ability to innovate, entertain, and bring people together during these odd times.
America is looking to open back up, so our reliance on our computers may never return to the way it was last March, but the impacts our time away from each other had on how we used technology will never fade away, nor will the progress made by movements which were able to step into the spotlight like never before.
Hi Sean,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post. The antidote at the beginning really caught my attention and was a great way to introduce your topic. Your approach of beginning the post with lighthearted but factual information before introducing more serious facts (i.e George Floyd protests) really brought the piece together. I do agree with you that COVID-19 transformed the way society has used the internet, but I also believe the pandemic has proved how much we need it to remain sane. Overall, this piece was a great way of scaling the importance of the internet on different levels, and I never would have thought about it this way before the post.
Increasing internet usage due to the pandemic is not surprising and makes much sense. But, the aggressive attention given to political and social issues is not something I think many people would have foreseen to happen. Covid-19 has done a great job of opening peoples eyes to systemic problems in our country. The uptick in political interest can be good as you said, it has encouraged people to write to their representatives, sign petitions, and attend protests. Which can have positive effects on policy making in our country. As a society it is important that we are civically engaged and pushing for reform.
This blog post was really good, and the idea that the pandemic changed how we use the internet is interesting. I’m curious about how this will impact future political events, such as elections.
The virus was responsible for shutting down many major internet service providers in the US and other countries. Most infected people had no symptoms, which was very alarming since the virus was so highly contagious.You need to check jam city basketball mod apk to get more knowledge about internet. The Internet has made it possible for people to get any type of information they want and has opened the doors to a whole variety of jobs.
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