COVID-19 Quarantine = Surging Connectivity

Quarantine for employees in my company started mid-March when a colleague returned from a business trip to Europe and developed symptoms of COVID-19.   It was about the same time the NBA suspended their season, which instantly got everyone's attention.  As more companies, businesses, schools and universities started sending people home, suddenly millions were stuck in their homes...indefinitely.  After doing a soul-searching mental reset on this new harrowing reality, recognizing and putting the brakes on surging anxiety, and resolving family refrigerator-raiding disputes, we paused, and then set about doing the one thing we could do without going outside...connecting.

I believe that COVID-19 has done more to explode global social media connectivity and enhance creative digital communications than any event in recent history.  Where should I start?  At the beginning.  On December 30, 2019, Dr. Li Wenliang of Wuhan Hospital "sent a message to fellow doctors in a chat group"  warning them about the new viral outbreak that resembled SARS.  As the virus spread into Europe, Italy was severely hit.  So artists, and normal citizens, turned to social media to connect while quarantined.  Actors live-streamed fairytale stories to children who were stuck at home over a month.  A psychologist in Lombardy, Italy, one of the hardest hit regions, admitted "I've had to learn to use Zoom" to better address her clients escalating meeting requests in lieu of phone calls.  To combat their isolation, Italians began singing, performing music, dancing, and more from their balconies, all of which was coordinated via social media.

As the virus spread to the U.S., and parts of New York City were overwhelmed with patients, prominent doctors took to Twitter to discuss strategy, share research data and seek opinions.  Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration who has almost 400K followers, is a prolific user who harnesses the critical immediacy of Twitter to help fight this pandemic.  In fact, the Wall Street Journal published an article two days ago entitled "Doctors Are Tweeting About Coronavirus to Make Facts Go Viral" and cited Dr. Gottlieb who they say may tweet dozens of times ago to instantly share critical medical information to researchers, doctors, and everyone invested in mitigating the spread and researching treatments and vaccines. Similarly, Dr. Craig Smith was one of the first doctor to post daily updates on the grizzly front line reality of treating the virus at Columbia Univeristy Hospital which was shared on the hospitals website, and re-tweeted extensively, was hailed in another WSJ article titled "The Pandemic's Most Powerful Writer is a Surgeon."

But while the medical community was doing its work diligently, we did our work which was to stay home, eventually get binged-out and bored, and start brainstorming creative ways to create and support one another.  John Legend, Pink and others streamed live online concerts from their homes to ours.  Jay Shetty began a 20-day, 30-minute live stream mediation class for the world.  Numerous fitness experts streamed live at-home workout routines on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.  There are other regular, good-hearted folks providing free yoga classes, nighttime bedtime stories, home cooking challenges, home-schooling groups, and much more.

And to help lighten our hearts and minds, John Krasinski of hit TV comedy series "The Office", saw after several weeks the toll the dismal news and physical isolation was having, so he created "Some Good News" which he shot from his home, with the logo designed by his kids. It was publicized on Twitter, Instagram with episodes housed on YouTube.  Episodes included taking front-line health workers to Fenway Park to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, got world-famous performers to pitch in on a virtual prom and graduation, and got a galactic greeting from the International Space Station astronauts for us to hang tough down here on Earth.

All of this proves the value of social media during the most austere, isolating time on Earth, shows how it is keeping us more connected, and is spurning creativity and information sharing among all of us for the good of all of us.