As the world is hit with the coronavirus and its citizens have to adjust to a new normal, many countries have ordered their citizens to only leave the house unless it is necessary, enforcing social distancing and/or quarantine. Therefore, it is no surprise that media consumption has also strayed away from what we consider ‘normal.’ Personally, on average, I have a screen time of 2 hours more than before this pandemic has hit the world. I’m also finding it extremely difficult to escape the constant discourse surrounding the virus, whether it be on social media, news platforms, or from friends and family. As someone who wants to go into the field of media for their career, it does not bother me much that I’m spending so much time using media. However, I do notice the change in my priorities due to the quarantine, as an extrovert, I desperately miss being able to hug and see my friends and extended family. I have also been aware of the fact that since I’m using social media way more, that my insecurities have also been heightened.
During this unique time of social distancing, there has been one social media trend/post that has stood out to me. It is a video of a quarantined Italians and all of them are on their balconies and supposedly singing Rihanna’s song, ‘Bitch Better Have My Money.’ This is believable as we’ve seen many videos of this nature where quarantined Italians are singing songs together on their balconies to entertain themselves during these hards times. However, to someone who knows their way around the internet (i.e. a millennial) it would only take a few seconds to realize the video is fake, and someone has just placed an audio of a crowd singing Rihanna’s song over a video of Italians singing on their balcony. As a lover of memes, I saw this, I laughed, and then I moved on. However, the next day, my mom and I are chatting and she asks me “if I’ve seen the hilarious video of quarantined Italians singing ‘Bitch Better Have My Money?’’ I laughed along with her but then realized she was being serious and had to burst her bubble and tell her that the video is obviously fake. My mother is definitely a smart women, and it surprised me to see that she was gullible enough to believe that video. To see the vast amount of people on social media actually believing these videos with different audios of crowds singing popular songs has definitely resonated with me and made me realize how people will believe anything.
On the flip side, one piece of news that has resonated with me has been ABC News’ article titled, ‘Coronavirus: LA County, city issue new ‘Safe at Home’ restrictions on businesses, activities amid COVID-19 pandemic’. As one can tell from the title, has been put on lockdown due to COVID-19, this has especially resonated with me due to the monstrosity of this order. If you would’ve told me in late February or early March that due to the coronavirus the city would have to go on lockdown, I would’ve laughed in your face. However, it’s insane to see where the world is now.
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