In a time where we are unable to see our friends and family in person, the internet has given us many ways to enjoy the connection remotely. I, along with many others, would not have expected such an open community to close their doors to the outside world. However, in spite of everyone having to stay home, the internet provided us with the ability to connect and interact with our loved ones in the comfort of our own homes. In the article, “The Virus Changed the Way We Internet” by Ella Koeze and Nathaniel Popper, they discussed as people are unable to gather for large events, they turn to entertainment via apps such as Youtube and Netflix. However percent difference showed that people tend to use the internet rather than the apps on their phones.
As we can see from data in the article, there was a dynamic spike in online activity for all the websites starting shortly after the first COVID death. This aligns time of the start of quarantine. They also shared data for apps popular for virtual meetings, those generally used for work and school, such as Zoom and Google Classroom.
Schooling online has shown to be a challenge for many students however. I know personally, I struggled to keep focus on my online classes even before COVID, so to have a fully online schedule has made it difficult to motivate me to study or do my homework ahead of time. In addition, working on group projects can be difficult as you aren’t able to meet with classmates during class time to discuss projects or to go over details you may have missed before. Although the internet provides a lot of resources, there are still some abilities that are best suited for in person.
A hot topic recently has been on the increasing hate crime against Asians and Asian Americans. All over social media, there has been discussion to spread awareness and as well what one can do to prevent this misconduct. My parents are not big on talking about these issues at home, despite being an Asian family. However, my friends and I have discussed this a lot and we all continue to stay educated on how we can be allies to those that are victims of hate crimes. On social media, I follow many pages who discuss this as well as other racial, sexuality-based, or gender hate crimes. For example, there is this Instagram page called DearAsianYouth, and they use their page to spread awareness on the disparities of Asian people as well as those of different backgrounds. I personally stay up-to-date on their posts as well as other pages and use my platform to educate others. Although social media is beneficial, it can only take us part of the way.
