Media Trends 2 pm S20: Social Media & New Tech Blog 8 Question (April 9th)

Friday, April 3, 2020

Social Media & New Tech Blog 8 Question (April 9th)

What has been the biggest impact of the pandemic thus far on social media and tech-based industries like eSports and video conferencing platforms? Which industry or group has the most to lose? Which industries/companies could possibly gain/benefit from the current situation? Do you think the pandemic will have any lasting impact/create any long-term changes in tech-related industries? No limit on responses – only one question this week

23 comments:

Danielle DiMauroApril 7, 2020 at 6:32 PM
Nintendo has certainly been benefiting from this pandemic. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released for the Nintendo Switch just a few days after social distancing orders went into effect in the tri-state area. My Twitter feed is filled with people talking about playing Animal Crossing and I feel out of the loop because I do not own a Switch (although I almost bought one with my tax refund). For those that feel left out (like myself), there is a mobile edition of Animal Crossing called Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp which currently has over 10 million downloads on the Google Play Store. The timing of the Animal Crossing release could not have been more perfect or Nintendo. Additionally, Steam, a distribution center for PC games, just had a sale this past weekend with up to 75% off titles. Gaming is certainly doing well across all platforms, as Verizon measured that “video game usage during peak hours has gone up 75 percent since the quarantine first went into effect last week” (Shanley). Additionally, “Twitch viewership increased 10 percent and YouTube Gaming went up by 15 percent” (Shanley).

While gaming has seen a dramatic increase, Verizon measured that social media usage remained flat. Verizon’s data is from March 17 so I believe that has changed since then, judging by the vast number of people on TikTok alone. Of all social platforms, TikTok is certainly winning, as “the video app saw an 18 percent increase in downloads, and was downloaded 2 million times between March 16 and 22, an increase from the previous week's 1.7 million” (Crowley). While TikTok is certainly seeing success in terms of numbers, the platform has received backlash for restricting content. In TikTok’s community guidelines, it outlines that “some content, like that which may be dubbed sexually explicit, will automatically get flagged on the platform” (Crowley).
On March 2nd, TikTok removed one of Lizzo’s videos of her in a bikini. TikTok reinstated the video after reviewing the problem further (Ferrer). This calls into question the suspicious that TikTok only promotes content from “fit,” “skinny,” and “attractive” people. With the significant increase in users, it will be interesting how TikTok enforces its community guidelines.

I wonder how the new video platform, Quibi will do with this pandemic. Quibi’s shows are “meant to be watched only on a phone, and all episodes are 10 minutes or less. It’s fast entertainment for when you’re on the go” (Sepinwall). Now, of course, not many people are commuting anymore. I wonder if Quibi can compete with TikTok, which has certainly been able to benefit from the trend of short-form video. YouTube is also a competitor which, like TikTok, is free. Quibi is currently offering a 90-day free trial for its service if you sign up before April 20th. After that, the service costs $4.99 a month with commercials; the ad-free version is $7.99 a month (Sepinwall). Considering the service has over $1.75 million invested into it, I wonder how long it will take to become profitable. I cannot imagine many people will be paying for the service outright. I think it would be interesting if Quibi was able to partner with Sundance or other people who make short films to have them on their service. Time will tell if Quibi becomes a larger player in the media landscape.
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UnknownApril 8, 2020 at 6:51 PM
Adelle Tedesco

Due to the pandemic social media, video games and video conferencing have had their number of users skyrocket. Since everyone is at home and on their phones and computers these industries have all seen a dramatic increase in their use. In the gaming industry, video game usage has gone up 75% since the beginning of the pandemic, along with just video game usage going up there has also been a huge increase in streaming of video games on both Twitch and Youtube. (Shanley) In more online usage, Social media has seen huge increases in usage, especially in Tik Tok. The number of downloads of Tik Tok went up 27% in the month of March, with the pandemic people are turning to Tik Tok and apps like it not only for entertainment but to also create their own content. (Crowley) Another big success in social media is Facebook. (Roose) In recent years Facebook has lost its popularity and was seen by many as being outdated, but with the recent virus people have begun to return to Facebook using this social media platform as another way to stay connected with those they cannot see, and to also keep up with the news. (Crowley) These online industries are able to thrive in this time, and while the reasoning behind this is not something any company would hope for, these industries are able to help people during this time, and still see success.
On the other side of this virus, there are some industries that are struggling, one in particular is advertising and ad sales. (Kafka) Even though people are spending all of their time online and on social media, many advertisers are cutting back their spending on ads, and some are cutting it all together. In relation to this, while advertising is going down, and ad sales are dropping these websites that make a lot of their money based on ad sales are struggling too. On website in particular is Twitter, while the usage of Twitter has skyrocketed with the pandemic, they have not been able to make the revenue to match these numbers since ad sales have dropped. (Kafka) Advertisers have not seen needs to pay for advertising during this time when people are unable to leave their houses, and most can’t afford to go out and spend money; this issue is just for right now but could continue has the pandemic continues.
With online and tech industries doing so well during the pandemic, this success is sure to follow well after the end of the virus and the end of the quarantine. (Wakabayashi) These industries and companies within have been able to prove that they are essential for people during these times, and will continue to be in the future even when the virus has died.
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UnknownApril 8, 2020 at 8:20 PM
Cooper Brown
The CoronaVirus outbreak has put a stall on almost every aspect of our lives. These are very unprecedented times as no one truly knows when social distancing will no longer be necessary. Unfortunately, many businesses are struggling during this time as the virus has compromised daily business practices. However, not every industry has taken a toll from COVID-19. Esports has been an industry that has been able to continue while the other sports leagues have stopped all at once. ESports and streaming has been able to continue because it does not require people to be present at the same place. Since Esports is on the rise it is far to assume that streaming sites such as Twitch and Mixr are also seeing a boost in popularity. Since the CoronaVirus outbreak gaming has been on the rise and “According to a new report from StreamElements and Arsenal.gg, which monitor usage in the live-streaming industry, global viewership has increased over the past week on multiple platforms. "Comparing the most recent weekend and Monday to the same timeframe the previous week, Twitch viewership increased 10 percent and YouTube Gaming went up by 15 percent, both of which reflect the popularity of the livestreaming medium now that people are consuming higher volumes of entertainment from home" (Shanley). Since everyone has to stay inside in effort to stop the virus people have turned to anything to help keep themselves busy, According to a study done by Verizon “ U.S. video game usage during peak hours has gone up 75 percent since the quarantine first went into effect last week. Meanwhile, video streaming has also increased by 12 percent. Overall web traffic is up nearly 20 percent, but social media usage was flat” (Shanley). I also thought that several streaming sites would have the most to gain or lose if they are passed by competitors. I felt as though Netflix and Disney+ had the potential to gain the upper leg on one another during this time. Whatever show was going to have the better back catalog during this time can come out of this pandemic a “winner”. Right now, with the huge emergence of Netflix’s “Tiger King” I would say Netflix is in a very good spot. In fact “ The streaming service this week introduced PIN-protected profiles, as millions of roommates and couples in the US approach their second month of quarantine” (Vega). This was partly done to stop people from poaching from online accounts they have not paid and subscribed for. I think this is where the virus will have implications on technology in the future. Since so many people are streaming content services will look to get rid of people latching on or hacking into accounts. With the popularity of streaming and the boom of it during the pandemic I could see these safety measures being implemented in all and future streaming services.
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UnknownApril 9, 2020 at 12:36 AM
Sophia Toppo
Blog 8

Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, people are forced to stay home and social distance in order to prevent the spreading. With so many people at home, social media and media in general has been implemented into everyday life more than usual. Not only is the media being used for entertainment, but also people are actually relying on it to do work and schoolwork. Video conferencing platforms have been on the rise as it allows a large group of people to communicate with each other simultaneously. This is what allows workers to connect with fellow employees and students to engage with their teachers and classmates. While these video conference platforms like zoom have been flourishing, an article claims that, “they don’t want to be as seen as trying to take advantage of a virus…“Empathy, humanity and support for each other is more important than revenue…’”(Levy, 2020).
While some media companies are flourishing during this time, others are trying to survive. An article in Vox explains how the media platforms that are surviving and will survive after the pandemic are the very big companies like Facebook, while other traditional media platforms are the ones that will suffer the most. This is likely due to the decline of advertisements. According to the article, “…advertising dollars, the thing that sustains many media companies, are often cut first as companies contract in bad times”(Kafka, 2020). These media companies that rely on advertisements to survive are going to get hit hard by the impact of this pandemic. I’m not sure if this will have a long-lasting effect on these media companies, because there is so much uncertainty with this virus, and it is like nothing we have seen before.

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Isaac BauerApril 9, 2020 at 10:32 AM
We are in the midst of a pandemic, and while the country continues to grapple with social distancing and self-quarantine there has been a common thread among all of us that connects us even while we are isolated at home. Physically we are seperated but digitally we have come together and are now more connected than ever. The latest digital trends and social media apps that we once considered as novelties/entertainment are now serving as important communication platforms and community tools that are maintaining our social discourse and our entertainment even in the midst of a global virus. An article from the Hollywood Reporter for example, titled "Gaming Usage Up 75 Percent Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Verizon Reports,” discusses how established gaming platforms are seeing a huge boost in players since the outbreak began, serving as an outlet for players to get some social connectivity and talk to other fellow players online. Being able to communicate with our friends while playing an online video game is some of the closest we will get to hanging out and having fun with a big group of people.
Other popular social media apps and communication tools like TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Whatsapp and Instagram are seeing big boosts in newly registered users as well. Facebook is bearing a massive increase in users for their communications and call features, along with hundreds of thousands of users going to Facebook for news on COVID-19. According to the article “The Coronavirus Revives Facebook as a News Powerhouse” by the NYTimes, they reveal that “more than half the articles being consumed on Facebook in the United States were related to the coronavirus…. U.S. traffic from Facebook to other websites also increased by more than 50 percent last week from the week before, “almost entirely” owing to intense interest in the virus, the report said.”
The industries benefiting the most are social media, digital entertainment/streaming, digital communication tools, and news outlets. These are the platforms that still function and thrive even in a pandemic, and are having large user growth. These technologies do not rely on our social institutions of the outside, to function like our digital environments inside. Digital communication is what is keeping our world afloat right now. An article by the NYTimes, “Big Tech Could Emerge From Coronavirus Crisis Stronger Than Ever,” describes how companies like Amazon are hiring 100,000 new workers to meet surging demand in online retail, along with Microsoft seeing their digital communication platforms increasing over 40% since the outbreak. Zoom is now an essential tool, meanwhile services like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb have had their user base simply vanish. YouTube and Netflix have taken responsibility for the movies, and it seems that consumer tech habits are changing en masse. The $3.9 trillion global technology industry will take a big hit, but the change in consumer habits may seem like the new normal as the world recovers from this disastrous pandemic.
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Matt HalpinApril 9, 2020 at 10:55 AM
The Coronavirus pandemic has left the world in shock. Things could never be the same after this chapter in American history ends and entire industries will be permanently affected by the biggest story in 2020. One of these industries is sports. Live sports rely on people coming to the games and using ticket revenue to pay all expenses. Unfortunately, nobody can come to these games because of the Covid-19 virus. In fact, every major sports league has had to suspend operations for the short term, eliminating any possibility of ticket revenue from this point forward. The market most affected by the Coronavirus is live sports. One of these reasons is the fact that live sports requires an audience to sit near each other for the entire game. Nobody wants to do this in the midst of a pandemic, so nobody would show up even if they were allowed to. Not only this, but many professional athletes are losing out huge on paychecks. In sports, not all money is guaranteed and players only earn money when they are on the job and fit to play. This is especially prevalent in Football and Basketball. If these athletes aren’t playing, they’re not making money and for the first time since before the 70’s, athletes could struggle to put food on the table. Not all sports are cancelled, though. E-sports, which have become popular in the last 5 years, have decided to resume their professional season in an online instead of in-person format. This is allowing the e-sports industry to thrive despite the circumstances. In fact, viewership of professional “League of Legends” in hours consumed increased 42% in China since the quarantine started (Shanley). Likewise, viewership on video game streaming site Twitch has gone up 36% since the Coronavirus pandemic started (Crowley).
Arguably the biggest winners from all of this madness are Zoom, and Tik Tok. Zoom is booming for an obvious reason. People need a place to converse and conduct business without going into public. The video conference program allows group conversations to happen over webcam, and has become peoples’ go to for class and business calls. The company has gone from little known to a tech powerhouse, even if it is temporary. However, Zoom has been having some capability issues. Since the program is rather new and wasn’t popular until very recently, Zoom is having trouble keeping people’s privacy and data secure. The appeal of Zoom is that it is easy to use. There are very few security checkpoints and if you have the access code, you can get into any meeting in the world. This is also an issue. There is a lack of privacy and people feel unsafe. Chief Exec Eric Yuan said, “We did not design the product with the foresight that, in a matter of weeks, every person in the world would suddenly be working, studying, and socializing from home,” (Harwell). When Zoom was a smaller company very recently they didn’t have to worry about the entire world on their platform, and the unexpected growth might have deepened Zoom’s pockets, it could be slightly hurting their reputation.

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Kevin PerezApril 9, 2020 at 11:08 AM
While we do not have the opportunity to go outside our homes anymore, there are a few industries that are actually benefitting from the coronavirus’ impact on society, one of them being the world of eSports. This particular industry is known for hosting some of the world’s best online players of viral video games that gain popularity worldwide. Companies like Twitch, YouTube, Riot Games, and Epic Games, host tournaments in-person and showcase their talents in front of diehard fans either of the players themselves or the content of the game. Now that COVID-19 has limited eSports to online tournaments, the audience metrics have still gone up since the market stands alone with the major sports leagues being put on hiatus. The Hollywood Reporter addressed this influx in an article stating that “When the company's popular LPL (Tencent's League of Legends Pro League in China) went on hiatus in January, Riot saw an influx of Chinese viewership of its Korean League, LCK, which resulted in a 42 percent year-over-year increase of hours consumed. When the LPL returned Feb. 28, a 30 percent year-over-year increase of average daily unique viewers came along with it” (Shanley).
Another positive industry is online streaming. We have had to resort to this, but as mentioned before, YouTube and Twitch host many of these gamers that build their resume to create the content and exposure to go into eSports as a known professional. But these platforms are also ways for people to connect and relate to others via live stream or posting videos for fans to see, and this has increased dramatically. In the month of March in 2020, Statista reported that the overall viewership on Twitch has increased by 10% and YouTube’s gaming platform, YouTube Gaming, has experienced a 15% increase (Gough).
One industry that is losing during this time period is social media influencing and the ad sales along with it. On social media platforms like Instagram, there are people known as social media influencers who tend to travel from place to place, gaining credibility for showcasing products that work for them as a way to tell their fans to use a product and advertise it. In recent weeks however, Business Insider reports that “Influencers have seen their sponsorship deals shut down and events cancelled, with many shifting their focus to alternative revenue streams that allow them to continue to earn a living without leaving their homes” (Perelli and Whateley). Traveling is now being restricted in many parts of the world to avoid the threat of contamination and as a result, people are stocking up on products to prepare for the worst. Because it is now dangerous to leave the house, access to products is not as easy as before. Workers who deliver goods and services can also contaminate the items, endangering the buyers, so it makes sense that influencers are trying to use their expertise and knowledge to do educational videos from home in an attempt to keep their audiences engaged.

Shanley, Patrick. “Esports Gain Prominence As Major Leagues Go Dark.” The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Apr. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/esports-gain-prominence-as-major-leagues-go-dark-1287117?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%2BToday%2Bin%2BEntertainment_2020-03-31%2B07%3A15%3A00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.

Gough, Christina. “Global Viewership Increase on Twitch and YouTube Gaming Due to Coronavirus 2020.” Statista, 31 Mar. 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/1108307/covid-twitch-youtube-viewers/.
Perelli, Amanda, and Dan Whateley. “How the Coronavirus Is Changing the Influencer Business, According to Marketers and Top Instagram and YouTube Creators.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 8 Apr. 2020, www.businessinsider.com/how-coronavirus-is-changing-influencer-marketing-creator-industry-2020-3.
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Kyra BirnbaumApril 9, 2020 at 11:19 AM
COVID-19 is a huge pandemic that has strongly impacted social media and tech-based industries. The pandemic has showed the world how much we can do on technology. “With people told to work from home and stay away from others, the pandemic has deepened reliance on services from the technology industry’s biggest companies while accelerating trends that were already benefiting them” (Wakabayashi, Nicas, Lohr, Isaac). This shows how the industry is gaining more attention than ever before. But before the pandemic streaming services have been a huge competition. Even though many of these companies are gaining more attention many still have a lot to loose.
Esports franchises as well as game companies are hosting online events to fundraise for their own bottom line as well as to raise money for aid. Esports franchise “Tempo Storm will host a four-day live stream event to raise money and awareness for charities involved in the relief effort, such as Feeding America, a network of food banks, and CARE, a humanitarian organization that provides disaster relief to areas in need” (Beresford). This is just a glimpse of what these large gaming companies are doing to help those in need of assistance. These gaming companies are really stepping up to the plate during this time of a pandemic. They have a lot to lose themselves as well. To be donating such a large portion of revenue during a time where it seems that every company is losing money, is very generous and the right thing to do. If everyone would give back to the communities in need a little bit right now it would definitely go a long way. For example, one company that is struggling and has laid off most of it’s employees is Take-Two Interactive. The article reads “With many of its members employed in the hospitality industry, 85 percent have lost their jobs over the last few weeks since the pandemic put a stop to all non-essential work” (Beresford).
An article published by eMarketer talks about how most social media platforms are benefitting from the coronavirus. The reason being “as people turn to these platforms to connect with friends and family who may be at a distance or to access news content…the fast-changing nature of the coronavirus could translate to more users tracking real-time news updates via social media” (eMarketer). Basically saying, that since the virus is so new and so fresh, everyone reverts to social media to track the latest news updates on how many people have died from the virus, the details on what the virus does to the body, and much more. It is sad to say, but the coronavirus was almost a blessing in disguise for social media companies. Social media allows a person to sit at home and basically track trends, and teach themselves new information that they would not have as easy access to otherwise.

Works Cited
Shanley, Patrick. “Esports Gain Prominence As Major Leagues Go Dark.” The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Apr. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/esports-gain-prominence-as-major-leagues-go-dark-1287117?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR's Today in Entertainment_2020-03-31 07:15:00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.
“The Biggest Business Impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic.” EMarketer, www.emarketer.com/content/the-biggest-business-impacts-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-according-to-business-insider-intelligence.
Wakabayashi, Daisuke, et al. “Big Tech Could Emerge From Coronavirus Crisis Stronger Than Ever.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/technology/coronavirus-facebook-amazon-youtube.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article.
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UnknownApril 9, 2020 at 11:30 AM
Dylan Lewis

With the outbreak of the coronavirus forcing all of us to shutter ourselves indoors, people have had to rely much more on their computers, televisions and gaming consoles to keep them occupied throughout the day while social distancing. This has led to a major increase in usage for many parts of the tech and entertainment industries, with one in particular being the rapidly rising eSports industry.
While all major American sports leagues have had to suspend their seasons for the time being, eSports tournaments and events have continued to carry on as planned with little to no issues, since these competitions can be hosted entirely through the internet. According to a report from StreamElements and Arsenal.gg, popular eSports and gaming live streaming websites Twitch and YouTube Gaming saw a 10 and 15 percent increase in viewership respectively in mid-March (Shanley). As more disgruntled sports fans tune into eSports tournaments to get their fix of competitive content, I can see many of these new viewers becoming fans of particular teams or players they may have stumbled across on Twitch or YouTube, bringing them into the eSports fan base and bumping up viewership numbers for long after the coronavirus pandemic has died down.
Besides eSports, the streaming service industry has seen a major surge in popularity over the past month. According to an article from The Guardian, global streaming service usage has increased by 20 percent since the pandemic has started, and the recently launched Disney+ has nearly doubled its subscriber count up to 50 million during this time period (Sweney). As more people are tuning in to their streaming services of choice, shows that may have otherwise flown under the radar have instead become massive hits, like Netflix’s new docuseries Tiger King, which amassed roughly 34 million viewers in the first ten days of its release, according to Nielsen (Pallotta).
While many tech-based companies have been able to thrive during the coronavirus pandemic, social media websites like Twitter and Facebook have taken a major hit due to advertisers cutting back on their spending on these platforms. Although social media websites have seen a large uptick in daily usage, these advertising cutbacks have caused their revenue to drop drastically. Twitter in particular is likely to have seen a 20 percent decrease in company revenue in March due to advertising cutbacks, making them unlikely to achieve the Q1 2020 earnings projection they had given their investors in early February (Kafka). Traditional media companies like local news outlets are under an even greater threat from these advertising cutbacks, with their evaporating revenue sources forcing them into laying off workers or cancelling newspaper printing altogether (Hsu). While large companies like Alphabet and Facebook are large enough to sustain themselves despite these cutbacks, smaller companies that rely on advertising to stay afloat are much less likely to survive past the coronavirus pandemic with their revenue sources quickly depleting.
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UnknownApril 9, 2020 at 11:35 AM
Brent Costantino

The biggest impact that this current pandemic has had on social media and tech-based industries like Esports and video conferencing platforms is that it has dramatically increased the traffic to these particular platforms. Since people are quarantined in their homes and practicing necessary social distancing measures, they have a lot of free time to surf social media sites and build on hobbies such as Esports. Video conferencing has become essential during this confusing time, and it seems as though we are getting a glimpse into what future education and professional meetings will look like. I believe that scenarios such as job interviews will transition to video conference permanently following the pandemic. I believe that the industry with the most to lose during these unprecedented times is the movie industry or Broadway plays. This assumption is based on two important factors. For starters, the box office for movie theaters and Broadway theaters is currently closed. Combining the rent costs for a Broadway theater and the amount of time with no ticket sales will equal to unrecoverable losses. The second reason why these two industries will continue to suffer even after things return too normal is that people will not have the extra money to be spending on hundred-dollar Broadway tickets. In order to compensate for this, Broadway shows are going to have to dramatically lower their ticket prices. Yes, that means that the $500 ‘Hamilton’ ticket days are over.

Although this pandemic has been an economic disaster, it is apparent that there are certain industries flourishing as a result of the viral outbreak. For example, companies that produce hand sanitizers or facemasks are doing extremely well. Grocery stores cannot turn inventory fast enough due to the high demand. Online conferencing companies such as Zoom have become the forefront for professional communication during this time, and I believe that a lot of people will continue to use Zoom after the pandemic concludes. Social media outlets such as Facebook have received a big boost in traffic due to the number of people bored at home scrolling through their phones. In an article published by the New York Times, Kevin Roose and Gabriel J.X. Dance write, “Now, stuck inside their homes and isolated from their families and friends, millions of Americans are rediscovering the social network’s virtues. That has lifted usage of Facebook features like messaging and video calls to record levels and powered a surge in traffic for publishers of virus-related news.” Not only is this good for Facebook, but it is turning the company into a primary source of news/entertainment for people.

I believe that the Coronavirus pandemic will leave a positive impact on tech industries, and that they could emerge from this terrible scenario stronger than ever. In an article published by the New York Times, Daisuke Wakabayashi, Jack Nicas, Steve Lohr and Mike Isaac write, “With people told to work from home and stay away from others, the pandemic has deepened reliance on services from the technology industry’s biggest companies while accelerating trends that were already benefiting them.” This quote illustrates the growing reliance on big tech companies to connect people now more than ever before. Rebecca Robbins published an article on Statnews which stated, “…tech companies are prioritizing the resources that will be most desperately needed in the coming days by frontline doctors and nurses in hospitals inundated with Covid-19 patients.” Tech companies are not only profiting from the pandemic, but they are doing their best to help out as well.
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UnknownApril 9, 2020 at 11:44 AM
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a widespread impact across millions of lives and industries. Over the past month or so, the coronavirus has shut down major sports leagues like the NBA, MLB, and even postponing the summer Olympic Games. Furthermore, the coronavirus has reached the tech world as well. For better or worse, the tech industry has also been greatly impacted by the virus’ constraints.

With many people stuck inside in hopes of flattening the curve, social media usage on all major platforms like Twitter and Tik Tok have skyrocketed. Although this is great for the platform in terms of overall users, the same cannot be said about advertisers on these platforms. In an article by Vox, author Peter Kafka explains how advertisers on Twitter are reacting to the pandemic saying, “the company’s revenue may have dropped by 20 percent in March as advertisers cut back on spending or perhaps stopped spending altogether” (Kafka, 1). The article goes on to mention that both Facebook and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) are dealing with similar problems, but due to their sheer size all three (including Twitter) will suffer recoverable losses. However, smaller media news companies won’t come out of the pandemic unscathed, due to have already been struggling with ad revenue.

Although there are definitely some pitfalls when it comes to the coronavirus, other industries seem to be thriving with people stuck at home. The social media app Tik Tok has seen crazy growth in the past few weeks. According to an article in Newsweek, author James Crowley details that “the video app saw an 18 percent increase in downloads, and was downloaded 2 million times between March 16 and 22, an increase from the previous week's 1.7 million, Sensor Tower reported. The app also saw a 27 percent increase in the first 23 days of March compared to February with 6.2 million downloads” (Crowley, 1). Tik Tok star Charlie D’Amelio became the most followed person on Tik Tok, and stars like Ariana Granda and Alabama Hannah are finding new outlets to engage with fans while in quarantine. Another platform that has been affected for the better worth mentioning are video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. According to Marketwatch, Zoom’s usage is up about 300% since before the pandemic and Microsoft is up 775% in usage of its cloud services (Bary, 1). This spike in usage is due to many people having to work from home.

Looking at the pandemic as a whole, I don’t think it will change that much in tech related industries. Much of the changes in these industries is out of necessity or sheer boredom (hence the increase in Tik Tok). The only change that I could potentially see as lasting is the use of video conferencing - companies could see that video conferencing is a viable substitute to face to face interactions, especially ones that could cost a good deal of money to make happen (ie international business meetings).

Works Cited

Crowley, James. “TikTok Numbers Soar Now That Everybody Is at Home Trying to Get Famous.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 25 Mar. 2020, www.newsweek.com/tiktok-users-soar-viral-videos-coronavirus-covid-19-1494229.

Kafka, Peter. “Twitter's Usage Is Skyrocketing. Its Ad Sales Are Plummeting. Expect to See That Played out across Media.” Vox, Vox, 24 Mar. 2020, www.vox.com/recode/2020/3/24/21192311/coronavirus-pandemic-media-advertising-twitter-new-york-times.

Bary, Emily. “Zoom, Microsoft Teams Usage Are Rocketing during Coronavirus Pandemic, New Data Show.” MarketWatch, MarketWatch, 1 Apr. 2020, www.marketwatch.com/story/zoom-microsoft-cloud-usage-are-rocketing-during-coronavirus-pandemic-new-data-show-2020-03-30.
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UnknownApril 9, 2020 at 11:45 AM
^^^^John McMahon
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Larryssa Jean-JulesApril 9, 2020 at 11:54 AM

Some of the biggest impacts of the pandemic have resulted in people spending more time in front of their screens. With people being strongly encouraged to stay home and self isolating, people have been trying to find things to keep themselves occupied. Social media platforms such as Tik Tok, game companies and the esports industry have all seen a significant increase in popularity with people staying home.

Music Business Worldwide reported that “the video app saw a 27 percent increase in the first 23 days of March” (Crowley 2020). This is an app that a lot of people deemed were only for Gen Z and now because people are home, they are looking for things to distract them from the pandemic and looking to possibly go viral. Even “video streaming platform Twitch saw a 31 percent increase in viewership” (Crowley 2020). Verizon also found that “U.S. video game usage during peak hours has gone up 75 percent since the quarantine first went into effect…[and] video streaming has also increased by 12 percent” so it’s safe to say the gaming industry has been doing well these past few weeks (Shanley 2020).

With trying to flatten the curve, comes people having to work remotely from home. In order to successfully do this, there has been an increase in use of video conferencing platforms. Out of softwares like Cisco webex, Microsoft Teams, and of course Zoom, Zoom has become one of the more popular choices for companies to keep their business alive. Bloomberg Businessweek reported that “Zoom’s daily users went from “10 million in December, now number 200 million” (Bennett and Grant 2020) and I can imagine that this has put more money in CEO Eric Yaun’s pockets.

While some industries are thriving off of the thrill of people staying home, there is a group of people that are being negatively impacted by all of this and that is social media influencers. These influencers primarily make money based on their partnerships with companies and also based on “living a life better than yours”. However, how can they make money if they are being told to stay home? According to Bloomberg.com,one YouTuber/influencer spoke out saying ““With SWXW, Coachella, and brand trips canceled, all of those things have gone away, understandably—meaning no revenue,”(Hannah Elliot 2020). A lot of influencers seem to make a lot of revenue from vlogging these music festivals showing off outfits, brands they are traveling with and taking photos and with festival season being considered a no-go for the rest of the year, that’s a lot of money they are missing out on.
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