POPULAR CULTURE INFLUENCED BY THE PANDEMIC?

 We all had different ways to cope with the pandemic. At first, mine was doing daily Youtube workouts by this influencer called Chloe Ting. After a while, I lost the motivation to workout so the next thing I did was to watch a lot of Netflix. I started a lot of shows, completed some and watched some halfway through. Due to how long the pandemic was, I got tired of doing all these new things. I decided to give this popular app a try especially after all the good things my friends said about the app. I remember the moment when I downloaded the app and setup an account; it was on the 24th of June around 2am. The first time I used the app I spent 2 hours on the app. It was so addictive. I found myself checking that app first thing in the morning and last thing before I slept at night. Although people might say it is addictive I believe it is a very good app. This app influences a lot of people mostly 21st generation or gen-Z members. I strongly believe Tik Tok videos and trends were influenced by the pandemic and coronavirus. Due to pandemic, most trends were about how to cope during the pandemic, or about cleaning up and how to wash hands. Some of these were creative trends to keep busy like how to make masks or arty things. People also used tik tok to share information about the pandemic, and also to share their quarantine experiences especially people who were all alone either on campus or plane fights away from home. There are also negative effects. One major problem is that some Tik tok famous stars did not follow the CDC guidelines for the virus. This was bad because they acted as role models especially to their younger audience. 

In the picture above you can see a meme of Obama where it says "phone, wallet keys, oh darn my mask" while checking his pockets when leaving to a public place. This picture depicts the struggles we face everyday. In the dorm, my room is very far from the elevator. In the beginning of the semester I always forgot my mask and remembered when I was halfway to the elevator and I had to run back to get one.  It was a major problem for most students especially when we RAs had to tell them or give them one. The second meme shows a dog wearing a mask which represents the different ways people wear their mask and the only correct way to wear one. You will expect people to wear one correctly but people mostly wear it the way the dog wore it in the second one.  

The pandemic has definitely shaped popular culture through memes, social media trends and other things.