Social media presence has taken off during the pandemic and within these social platforms, people are staying connected. Though one cannot deny the difference in the online presence from the beginning of the pandemic to present day. A prime example is the number of young adults and college students who waved off joining Tik Tok because they perceived it as a children’s app and succumbed to their curiosity while in lockdown. And with increased social media usage, there are effects.

While discussing online presence with Dawn Montes who goes by Dawn and Wafa Ali a common topic was how close communities were formed despite the negative aspects of social media; it proved to be a major influence and needed channel for modern life. But it goes without saying that being on social media comes with an ugly side. There are the effects of social media on those around you, Ali a COS nursing student, aged 18, noted how within her family there was a lot of time spent in the same room together but everyone was on their phone. Disconnected from each other and instead engaged with social media and entertainment. Montez, aged 21, and a Communications Major at COS describes a similar situation with herself and her partner while at home. She explains how she catches herself scrolling for over two hours on Tik Tok and states how detached it makes her feel from her life.

Cos student Johnny Aldaz, aged 19, stated how during quarantine and with the heavy political climate on Instagram and Twitter, it has been brought to light just how opinionated and at what lengths people will go to stand at their ground. He observed how politics is pitting people against each other and how friendships were torn apart. He says that the longer people have been online during the pandemic that the more toxic it has become.
As quarantine continued a common experience expressed online was handling boredom, which made people try out things they would not have considered otherwise. Montes expressed the drastic change in her own social media presence. How it used to be life updates on Facebook for family and is currently posting her own content on Tik Tok. “It’s still something that I never would have imagined I would have done,” said Dawn Montes. “If it weren’t for the boredom of quarantine.”

Despite the negative effects, social media has proved to be a prominent form of connection in everyday life and a source of entertainment that serves as a rabbit hole of various topics of content. The worldwide spread of information has also provided a source of creating hobbies. COS nursing student Ali, explains how social media not only provided an outlet from quarantine life but has also ignited a new hobby. She took up knitting and ended up knitting a whole blanket that she uses as a bed cover. Ali was not alone in this; a trend went viral the summer of 2020 on Tik Tok when Harry Styles fans began recreating a JW Anderson cardigan that Styles wore in a performance in February 2020. Interests were shared from one audience to the other in order to reach people and take advantage of the world coming onto these platforms to socialize while practicing social distancing.

As quarantine continued a common experience expressed online was handling boredom, which made people try out things they would not have considered otherwise. Montes, who goes by Dawn, expressed the drastic change in her own social media presence. How it used to be life updates on Facebook for family and is currently posting her own content on Tik Tok. “It’s still something that I never would have imagined I would have done,” said Dawn Montes. “If it weren’t for the boredom of quarantine.”

Communities that range from mundane life updates for the family on Facebook to Tik Tok viral trends to conflict of opinions. As the pandemic continues and all these social media platforms gain more users and content creators, it is safe to say online presence will go on to evolve despite current times with inevitable influence on the masses and the individuals.