How the Internet can help us deal with social distancing

If staring constantly at our phones, living an online life, was what kept us from really enjoying what How the Internet can help uswas happening around us before the pandemic, today the situation is quite The technology and social media One of the researchers, Gillian improvements - like virtual Sandstrom has been studying different. Humans are social dinners and other events online, online meetups between beings and if they can’t be new group games, Netflix Party strangers during the pandemic next to other people, they - developed during the pandemic and the participants are reacting sure find another way to and its consequent lockdown in similarly to what they did before communicate. During the most countries helped facilitating – after talking to a stranger virtual connections. online, people feel less lonely, pandemic, that way was better about the world and they the Internet. Besides the need to keep the trust more in others. And what is relationships that already the best way to meet strangers

Only in the first week of existed, human beings also online? Dating apps or websites. lockdown in Portugal, look for everyday social during March, MEO (the leading interactions, something hard to “The use of these apps has telecommunications company find during lockdown – at least become a compensation for the in the country) reported a 35% at the beginning. According to impossibility of finding people increase in wireless Internet the Greater Good Magazine, spontaneously when going out", and another 10% in mobile researchers believe these said the psychologist to Veja, a Internet, according to Público, weak ties are very important Brazilian magazine. The greater a Portuguese newspaper. On a for stabilizing social networks, the degree of social distance, more global level, the influencer allowing us to be more resilient the more frequent are the marketing platform Obviously, in stressful times for our interactions. According to the based in New York, USA, analysed communities, and to help us same source, in Spain, a country 260 of its own worldwide learn from people with different especially punished by the new campaigns and registered a 76% viewpoints, if we have diversity in coronavirus, a survey showed raise in the daily accumulation our groups. And most important a 94% increase of Tinder usage of likes in Instagram’s posts in these times: this kind of social among people under 35 years with the hashtag #ad, during interaction gives us the sense of old, during the first month of the first two weeks of March. normality. lockdown. Between February deal with social distancing

How the Internet can help us

20th and March 26th, the exchanges of messages around the world were longer by 35%, on average. "Talking to someone, no matter where they are, helps people feeling less lonely", says Elie Seidman, Tinder's executive director to Veja. With this in mind, the passport paid resource of the app (that allowed the users to contact other users all over the world) was released for free on the end of March – three days later Tinder recorded a historic swipe record, with more than 3 billion interactions worldwide.

Streaming services known for their characteristic self-isolation capacities also experienced a huge growth during the pandemic. According to Vox, on April, Netflix announced the 16 million new subscribers it got during the first quarter of the year instead of the 7 million that were predicted – 9 of the 16 million signed up in March, during several countries’ lockdowns. Nevertheless, they also had to adapt – that’s how Netflix Party started, now renamed as Teleparty. This feature synchronizes video playback and adds group chat to Netflix, Disney, Hulu and HBO, allowing the users to watch movies or TV shows together while apart. To make people stay at home, there were even an advertising student and a freelance copywriter of Miami Ad School Europe in Hamburg, Germany, that came up with the idea of spoiling some of the most famous Netflix’s shows on virtual billboards, according to Forbes.

Regardless of the way we choose to use the Internet to help us getting through the pandemic and social distancing, Sandstrom enhances the importance of communication, suggesting that talking to others may help.

“We’re all going through something together, something

deal with social distancing

we have in common,” she says.

“With so much uncertainty around the pandemic, we all want to know how people are doing, how they’re coping, and if they have any good ideas around handling the challenges. Maybe this is an opportunity to think about how those people matter more and provide more meaning in our lives than we realized”.

Rute Cardoso

Sources: www.publico.pt/2020/03/25/ economia/noticia/isolamento-marcaaumento-significativo-uso-redescomunicacoes-1909398 www.obvious.ly/blog/3/31/2020/ trends-report-the-impact-ofcoronavirus-on-influencer-marketing www.marketeer.sapo.pt/coronaviruslikes-nas-redes-sociais-disparam-coma-quarentena www.greatergood.berkeley. edu/article/item/how_to_keep_ connecting_with_strangers_during_ the_pandemic www.veja.abril.com.br/tecnologia/ na-quarentena-aplicativos-como-otinder-ganharam-nova-funcao/ www.vox.com/ recode/2020/7/16/21327451/netflixcovid-earnings-subscribers-q2?__c=1