Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global pandemic caused by the type 2 coronavirus
(SARS-COV-2). It rapidly spread to many countries around the world in early 2020
and gradually evolved into a global [Link]-19 has affected global economic
development, every country has been severely affected. It does serious harm to
people's health. The best way to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is to limit people's
face-to-face contact. To control the spread of the virus, most people have to stay at
home to study or work. People's way of life, work, and study have changed a lot
because of it. People at home can only communicate and get information from the
outside world through social media, and work and attend classes online. Therefore,
people use social media almost all the time. During the pandemic, people needed to
keep social -distance, and all large events and gatherings were banned. People find
fun only through social media, and long periods of home isolation make people eager
for more fun things to appear on social media. Internet users also spend more time on
the Internet than ever before.
Snyder(2020)explained what Marketers Need to Know About People's Social
Media Patterns During the Pandemic when he wrote :“July 2020 saw a rise of 10.5%
in social media usage, compared with July 2019, according to a GlobalWebIndex
survey. Some 46% of women and 41% of men said they've spent more time on social
media during the pandemic, making it the second-most popular digital activity.”i
From Snyder’s word, people are spending more time on social media than they
did last year, which means that they're cutting back on more real-life activities. The
focus of people's life has changed. Many things need to pay attention to real life,
which may be ignored due to the excessive use of social media. If people keep
ignoring real life, it may have a bad influence on their future life.
IMPROVING FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
During the Covid-19 pandemic, people should pay more attention to real life
instead of wasting time on social media as it will improve their family
relationships.
As we know social media addiction is a very real phenomenon, especially
among children. Social media addiction is a behavioral disorder in which
adolescents or young people are fascinated by social media. Despite obvious
negative consequences and serious drawbacks, they cannot reduce or stop online
media consumption. Although many teenagers use some form of online media
every day (including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Vine, Snapchat, and
video games), teenagers’ social media addiction is characterized by excessive
media consumption, and more and more their consumption relies on social media
as a way of feeling good, and despite the loss of friendship, reduced participation in
social activities, and negative impact on the school, this behavior cannot be
prevented or curbed. As a result, it will seriously affect their ability to communicate
and build relationships in real life during Covid-19 pandemic.
Instead, people should pay more attention to real life instead of social
networks. Parents should manage children’s screening time-the internet should be
used as a tool and online media as a source of entertainment or information.
However, when online media has become their child's almost daily work schedule,
they simply cannot think or focus on anything else. When people's hands and ideas
are displayed on screens and online, what do people expect in the real world? As
our lives are intertwined with the Internet, many young people strive to strike a
balance between life and responsibilities and challenges. It is important to manage
the screening time for young people and encourage them to do so on their own to
maintain their health and future. For example, major schools basically adopt the
online teaching model nowadays. Perhaps social media will be more attractive to
children. They will always rely on social media to affect their ability to
communicate and interpersonal in real life gradually as they have a relative lack of
self-control.
Studies have shown that there is a link between depression and increased social
media use, and children are most likely to be affected by depression, which in turn
affects their family relationships during Covid-19 pandemic. [i] Jordyn Young said:
“What we found overall is that if you use less social media, you are actually less
depressed and less lonely, meaning that the decreased social media use is what causes
that qualitative shift in your well-being,”[ii]
It is well known that there is a correlation between regular exercise and
improved mental state. Physical exercise can enhance brain function, help us develop
new skills, and enhance self-worth and personal accomplishment. Spending too much
time online usually reduces the chances of participating in physical exercises. These
activities increase confidence and improve people’s happiness. Teenagers who are
addicted to social media tend to spend more time browsing their online profiles and
allocate less time for physical exercise, which means they have fewer opportunities to
experience the mental health benefits of exercise.
People should focus on children's learning and mental state. They should
communicate with children more. Guide them how to build interpersonal relationships
and communication skills in real life. Thereby enhancing their family relationship.
Such as doing more parent-child games every day and setting a limit on how often
their children use social media apps will cause an alert to appear when they've gone
over their allotted amount of time. Following these limits can help reduce screen time.
They also need pay more attention to real life instead of wasting time on social media
as it will improve their family relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic. Such as
communicating with children more, understanding their thoughts in time, and guiding
them to establish positive interpersonal and social skills to enhance their family
relationships.
i
Victor Snyder(Aug 11, 2020)what Marketers Need to Know About People's Social Media Patterns During the
Pandemic. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from：
[Link]
[i]
Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Edited by Thomas E. Joiner, PhD Florida State University
[ii]
Jordyn Young, a co-author of the paper and a senior at the University of Pennsylvania.