A severe hurt to the majority of industries, remote or even loss of work, forced self-isolation and everything connected with Covid-19 restrictions was terribly difficult for some, and relatively easier for others. However, today we can already draw the first conclusions about the coronavirus social impact that almost each of us felt.
During recent years it has often been said “we will never be the same” or “the world will never be the same”.So, let’s figure out what has changed in the outer world and within ourselves.
Changes in self-identity
One of the most important and most noticeable consequences of the epidemic was the loss of the image of the feeling of control over our lives and in general the idea of the future, to which we were already accustomed.
All the built algorithms which we have followed for years, everything that we were used to, like planning a vacation, setting goals for a year, half a year, buying tickets for concerts in advance and traveling spontaneously wherever we want to – collapsed within a few months. Those who lived in the belief that everyone can create their own life without relying on chance had to face a really great disappointment, which became a tremendous experience of realizing our own vulnerability, fragility, and, in some sense, loss of a certain type of freedom. Sounds like we’re back in the high noon of emo teenagers, doesn’t it?
In addition, we also had to say goodbye to the feeling of a great independence from other people. How could we imagine before that our life would turn 180 degrees because of someone on another part of the globe?
Placing responsibility on technology
In fact, we can say that the coronavirus simply brought the future closer and united the whole world.
Reliable high-speed Internet became a key factor in providing hospitals and healthcare facilities with access to the global and rapidly changing information needed to fight the virus.
At the country level, immediate action was also taken to bridge the digital gap in education. Italy, for example, announced a package of measures worth 85 million euros to support distance learning for students and improve connectivity in isolated areas. While in China students from low-income families were provided with computers and mobile data packages and subsidies to pay for telecommunications services.
Moving online
The increased role of technology can be felt not only at the level of states today – with the introduction of self-isolation many of us had to organize the work from home. The meeting of two realities – home and office – did not go smoothly for everyone, but what we realized was the importance of having a good, stable connection for zoom meetings, quality cameras and seamless access to local databases.
And despite the fact that this work format brought us many advantages, it also made us more vulnerable as we faced such problems as a lack of casual communication, which really made us feel isolated and caused the blurring of the boundaries between work and personal time.
It is worth noting that not only our working life, but also other spheres gradually flowed online: shopping, visiting online exhibitions or excursions, communicating, meeting new people and keeping abreast of the lives of our friends – almost everything now takes place on the Internet. A great example of it is that versatile dating platforms from gay to widow dating sites are experiencing an unprecedented heyday and influx of users today.
And although this certainly makes our life easier and saves a lot of time, according to many scientists, the constant presence online and usage of social networks to compensate for the lack of real communication can often lead to a worsening of mood and even depression and anxiety. Among the reasons named by the researchers were, first of all, constant reminders of unpleasant situations in the world and a distorted view of the life of other people.