Pop and Internet Culture in the Time of COVID

Senior pictures my parents did of me,
in a parody of Friends shirt, made in
my hometown.

Like so many high school seniors now college-bound in this country, I had a unique graduation story and a unique final high school experience. In early March, we went entirely online, our proms and graduations cancelled until further notice. It was a strange time, and the more I think about it, the more I realize how surreal it was, at a time when we were sure the lockdowns would end soon, when our old lives were commingling with the new ones we would soon inhabit. I couldn't tell you where that shift occurred. It just happened, and we came out the other side different, changed. And there is perhaps no better example of this than pop and Internet culture. 

Instantly, there was a light-hearted nature on social media, at least in my hometown. As our graduation approached, people and businesses began selling masks and shirts with cute sayings and parodies of logos. My friends and I had shirts that were a parody of the Friends logo and referenced quarantine, and I had senior pictures done in it and a mask distributed by my high school. This was far from the only example, however, both nationwide and in my hometown. Mask-making became a popular trend, with images constantly appearing in the media and on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Even my mom got in on the trend, breaking out her sewing machine for the first time in years. Late night shows made jokes and exacerbated these trends. At one point, my sister did photos in her dance attire, holding wipes and disinfectant spray. It was all lighthearted fun in the frightening times we had entered.

On other sites, such as Reddit and news-sites, conspiracies began to abound, with individuals claiming

A photo from an early quarantine dance photoshoot
of my sister.

that the virus was fake, or produced in labs in Wuhan, or simply a conspiracy for governments to gain more control of their citizens. Misinformation flooded the online ground, and with new updates occurring constantly to contradict previous ones, unease and unrest only continued to rise, with some refusing to wear masks or change their habits. Social media sites began posting bulletins for the most up-to-date information and taking down false claims. The results in the beginning were two-fold, a stark juxtaposition that has carried over to into the modern-day and continued to unfold. 

But as one month became two and two became three, the fun of quarantine had started to falter. The sentiment both online and off was one of exhaustion, wondering when these mandates would come to end. Arguments ensued about how to handle graduations, how to reopen schools in the following academic year, and how to keep people in work. Conspiracies continued to unwind, and protests soon followed. I ended up staying off of social media for as long as possible in the worst moments of it, because in a time when we should've been banding together, we were tearing each other apart. Everything online was either hate, a conspiracy, or both. Maybe I was simply following the wrong people and pages, but it seemed like there was no relief from the virus. Even as celebrities continued to post about wearing masks, complete with pictures of them donning their own, the fun of those lighthearted moments had disappeared. 

My dad testing out a mask
made by my mother.

The era of Friends and The Office, of contemporary music artists, and of other comedic and cheery entertainment had departed. As of May, trends began to swing in the opposite direction, with heavier dramas like The Handmaid's Tale and Contagion taking the predominate spots on television and film streaming services; classical music listenership increased by around 13%; mystery, crime, and political books became the preferred reading material. These trends show the more introspective side of humankind during this pandemic. With so much time to think, deeper questions are being asked and explored, and our entertainment reflects this change. At the beginning of the lockdowns, we could believe the end was near, but at this point, we've accepted our predicament and settled down for the long haul. 

To check out more statistics and trends from this pandemic, I've provided the link here to the work I used in this piece. It's a very interesting read, though I highlighted the meat of it in this post. For other trends not highlighted here, however, you can go here for trends in religion or here for a great look into the history of conspiracy theories and pandemics.