By Naren Senthilkumar & Matthew Conrad
Introduction
The coronavirus pandemic has affected everyone around the world, and while some countries are handling the situation better than others, almost every region of the world has implemented lockdowns. Regions have shut down activities where there is a gathering, like schools, offices, airports. While in recent times, the world has slowly been trying to shift back to what once was, the virus is still growing, and lockdowns around the world continue. As a result, life has made a dramatic shift electronically. While a lot of our lives was already electronic before the virus, now, it feels like everything and anything can be accessed through electronic means, leading to a dramatic increase in this electronic usage.
Before
Electronic use has only become more prevalent in today’s modern society, and with the “help” of the pandemic, it has only grown. An article covering the effect of COVID-19 on electronic usage, “Impact of digital surge during COVID-19 pandemic: A viewpoint on research and practice” states that internet services have seen rises in usage from about 40% usage to nearly 100% usage in comparison to pre-lockdown levels. Websites like Zoom, Google Meets, and Microsoft teams have all had a dramatic rise in usage over the past couple of months. Zoom alone had experienced a 30 times increase over the past year in daily downloads, Zoom also reported in its Q1 2020 earnings report that it had had an increase of 354 percent, a huge increase, and all because of the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, some of these virtual conference companies were barely even known, as they were somewhat irrelevant. Before the pandemic, we were still able to go to work and have in-person conferences, kids were able to see their teachers and classmates in school, and we were able to do normal things, or at least things we thought were normal. Now, going to school and work virtually is just the new normal. After the pandemic is over, I would think that it would actually feel strange to transition from an almost completely virtual lifestyle back to what was normal. But that is a transition that I am looking forward to.
Current
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes to the way we go to work, go to school, and connect with each other. Entertaining ourselves has undoubtedly become a challenge due to most, if not all, public gatherings being discontinued. We have turned to platforms like, Facebook, Netflix, and Youtube to engage ourselves. A study from the New York Times found a stark increase in usage of these platforms since the first reported death from COVID-19 in the U.S. The article states a 27% increase in Facebook usage, 16% increase in Netflix usage, and a 15.3% increase in Youtube usage. These numbers are obviously substantial and they can plausibly be attributed to the pandemic.
Entertainment was not the only hurdle that COVID-19 presented, we needed new ways to go to work and go to school. Platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet have seen a major spike in usage in the past months. Zoom rose from around 2 million users to well past 6 million users after the first reported death from COVID-19. Microsoft Teams rose from under 500,000 users to past 2 million users. It’s no surprise that these apps have been blowing up because there is a great need for them. The COVID-19 pandemic has only sped up the existing digital transformation in the workplace and school. The pandemic has altered our view on work and school, but we can only wait and see if these changes are lasting.
Citations
De’, Rahul, et al. “Impact of Digital Surge during Covid-19 Pandemic: A Viewpoint on Research and Practice.” International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier Ltd., Dec. 2020.
Koeze, Ella, and Nathaniel Popper. “The Virus Changed the Way We Internet.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Apr. 2020.
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