In Marston et al “COVID-19 vs Social Isolation: the Impact Technology can have on Communities, Social Connections and Citizens,” the authors set the scene in March 2020 for the takeover of COVID-19 in the UK and its positive and negative effects on people, and how technology can interact with these effects to mitigate them.
Marston et al utilizes both pasy statistical studies and case studies of certain groups or social media groups that will either be clearly affected by the isolation of the pandemic, or those who can help to appease the isolation. Written in March 2020, they aim to understand what is happening on the ground of the pandemic. For example, mobility is important to identity, independence, and freedom, and the reduction of such can be very detrimental. Technology, in a past study, showed that it can complement day-to-day activities, leisure, vacations, and maintaining social connections via social media platforms as well as communication platforms. Previous to COVID-19, the group with the most reduced mobility was really mostly older and disabled people, and the TILL study “suggested older people balance the facilitators of technology use (i.e. sharing of information and feeling secure) against the detractors of technology (i.e., feelings of apprehension of use, privacy, security).” Marston and co. suggested the need to positively promote technology, peer support networks, and how intergenerational relationships can be enhanced through technology. With COVID-19, this became kind of inevitable and necessary.
Marston et al expands on this idea to emphasize the importance of users having an additional resource for maintaining social connections. This has the capacity to reduce the risk of loneliness and social isolation that can result from the pandemic. What I also think is important to note, however, is how the humans behind the screens play a role in utilizing social media for good. For example, The Stony Stratford residents’ Facebook group enabled information to be shared across the community. The purpose of this is that residents who may get COVID-19 were able to access support (e.g. groceries, collection of prescriptions), while also ensuring the most vulnerable can be cared for.
Another intriguing point, however, is the negative impact social media can have on particular groups of people. For example, some “childless” adults have smaller social networks than equivalent aged parents. With the increased lockdown, relatives post more to each other online. As one childless adult states, “‘The only time I ever think about what I might have missed out on is when I see people putting comments or pictures of their grandchildren on Facebook.’”
Overall, Marston et al, at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, not only outlined some of the important positive uses of social media, but also some negative aspects for certain people, in addition to generally emphasizing the need for us to be there for one another. Another thing he got right is that many of us will never be the same again—something which I’ve seen to be true as I know many older people who have still not returned to normal lives outside of the house out of continuous fear of COVID-19.
I read the same article and resonated with the final point you made, being that life for many of us will never be the same. As young people, I think we can be naive to the fact that elderly/immunocompromised people are still fatally threatened by the presence of COVID in our community. My grandparents are still very cautious with attending public events, and will still wear a mask when meeting with others. Although we may have begun to move on, they are still living with these circumstances everyday. Another change to our society that is seeming permanent is wearing a face covering on public transportation. Although some cultures have been doing this for years now, in America you were stigmatized for wearing masks/gloves on a subway, bus, plane, etc.. Now, it is the norm. I think that we are embracing the fact that it is not weird to look out for ourselves and well-being. We are no longer concerned with how we look when we wear a mask or what people might think when we get a COVID test done. In some way, COVID broke down a lot of our public self-consciousness boundaries.
It’s so interesting that the same social media functions can have such different impacts on users depending on a their own personal situations. As the article noted, posting on Facebook could be beneficial for some people as it allows them to feel connected with their families. Yet for adults who are childless, this same feature can serve as a reminder of their loneliness. This example emphasizes how user-dependent the social media experience is. While we may attribute much of our behaviors to the technology itself, users are bound to act and think differently based on their prior experiences. It’s crazy that while one person may view a certain social media feature as being “helpful” and vital, another person may get extreme anxiety from it.
When I think about loneliness during the pandemic as it relates to technology use, I have always viewed it as a tool to feel more connected to others. In my experience during deep quarantine, I feel like the moments I was able to feel like everything was normal were the times I was using my phone to talk to my friends, Facetime, or seek entertainment (netflix mostly). Especially for people who were quarantining alone, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be bored and alone without that escape or connection to others. Even in the face of all the ways technology can make us feel worse about ourselves or even more lonely, I do think that it did more good than bad during the pandemic. In a normal life circumstance, I would probably feel different.