In the age of technology, communication is effortless. Emails, text messages and phone calls are few of the many ways people keep up with each other. It seems a new and improved way to communicate advances with each year. For example, many would have never imagined the ability to see and speak to one another through a phone, yet Apple completely changed how people converse after introducing FaceTime.
COVID-19 brought on a quarantine onto the entire world, isolating the population to their homes for the greater part of 2020. Reduced to only seeing a small amount of family/friends in person, maintaining relationships with everyone we knew became difficult. Fortunately, some had modern social media as a way to keep in touch with those close to us.
Humans are social creatures, and it’s no different for teenagers. This generation of teens grew up with technology, allowing them to understand how to operate the many forms of social media. Due to this, the pandemic likely did not stop teens from reaching out to their friends.
“Honestly, getting a hold of my good friends was not hard in the slightest. [Snapchat], iMessage and Instagram made the transition from quarantine life to in-person life so easy,” said Matthew Gately, senior.
Gately remains grateful that social media was available to update him during the quarantine.
“Even if I hadn’t talked with someone in a while, I was able to start up a conversation with them and talk about a recent trip or sports game,” said David Damiano, sophomore, in reference to social media.
In addition to these methods of communicating, most gaming consoles/video games provide a party feature, where online friends can speak and game with each other, similar to a group Skype call. Many would consider online gaming as a form of social media, where anyone can share content with others and participate in social networking.
“Xbox feels like another way of hanging out with friends. I get to spend time with my friends from school while at home,” said Sam Remy, senior.
The year 2020, as difficult as it was, did teach people the importance of socializing and how it helps get us through rough times.