Oh, Hyun-A, Letter to the Editor: Contact during the Pandemic

Letter to the Editor: Contact during the Pandemic

Hyun-A Oh

How do you contact others these days? Meeting face-to-face? That’s possible, but it’s better not to. Instead, we can socialize through social networking services and online video platforms. Since last year, most schools around the world urgently adjusted courses with non-face-to-face classes. Thanks to the video platforms, I could take online classes at SUNY Erie as an 18-year-old college student even though I’m far away in South Korea with 13 hours of time difference.

Also, not being able to move into Buffalo this semester, I followed ‘thebuffalonews’ on Instagram to contact the news of Buffalo. The stories from ‘thebuffalonews’ showed visual storytelling, using the picture-based Instagram. Face-to-face social meetings to chat have decreased and the usage of SNS continuously increased. SNS users started to increase rapidly during the pandemic. According to Techcrunch, WhatsApp usage has seen a 40% increase due to Covid-19. As you can see, the advantage of able to hear from acquaintances even if we don’t go out attracted others’ attention. SNS has showed its best value in the contactless society.

For this semester, I’ve taken classes at SUNY Erie and contacted people in Buffalo through SNS and video platforms. Through these, I could communicate with the outside world without going out. During the pandemic, I would use the efficiency of SNS and video platforms as much as I can. But I hope the day will come when I can go to Buffalo to take classes and meet my friends face-to-face.