The Impacts of the Pandemic on Communication

The Impacts of the Pandemic on Communication

Name

Instructor

Course‘

Sean L.Vassell

Framingham State University

COVID-19 triggered fear, anxiety, and anger among people, as people felt more vulnerable. People were forced to adapt to new ways of living and means of communicating. The key to healthy relationships has always been effective communication. Covid-19 has impacted all aspects of life and how we communicate is no exception. During the mandatory quarantine, people were encouraged to work from home hence no to little face-to-face interactions, except with family members (Sutton et al. 2020). Communication being a significant part of life, this paper is an interview report of a survey conducted on the impacts of COVID-19 on communication, particularly its effects on people.

In conducting the survey, the platform used was online as it is one of the most convenient and cheapest means of collecting data and includes very limited influence from social bias. Despite online surveys seeming the convenient method to use, to get quality responses, there must be an effective distribution plan. Therefore, in conducting the survey on the impacts of COVID-19 on communication, social media services will be used. The diversity in responses will be achieved because social media services have over 3.6 billion people using them, according to Lacus et al. (2020). The three most used platforms, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, will be used. To reach more people, a partnership with relevant influencers who helped in spreading the questions was done. Also, to encourage involvement and attract more participants, random prizes were offered.

The participants were both male and female (50% each). To enhance the diversity of the data that was collected, the participants were of ages between 18 and 80. With this kind of diversity, a clear picture of how COVID-19 has affected people’s lives, particularly communication, will be painted. In total, there were 20 participants; 5 Whites, 5 African Americans, 5 were identified as Caribbean/ Hispanic, and 5 were from Asian origin. Diversity of ideas and opinions was achieved. Six questions were asked, both open-ended, that required yes or no answers, and those that required explanations. The questions were short, precise, and simple.

‘’How has COVID-19 affected how you communicate?’’ was the first question that was asked. Most responses were that there was no or reduced face-to-face communication hence the use of new interaction apps such as Skype, Zoom, and other mediated platforms.  How people were communicating was being reshaped by these new sites and apps. Consequently, the nature of communication experiences was altered as well, hence new ways of relating to others and receiving information. The second question was on the media that was most preferred during the pandemic. Zoom was the most preferred app. The web conferencing software was the most preferred among most of the participants because it does not offer many perks in comparison to its rivals. Other features include customized backgrounds that allowed users to appear more professional and free first forty minutes call service. More so, another question asked was how social isolation affected how people communicated. Most participants responded that self-isolation affected their trust with others while relationships with other people worsened. With less contact with other people, there was heightening suspicion. It was also pointed out that communication was positively affected by the pandemic. People became better at using communication technologies, which later proved beneficial. Furthermore, we sought to seek suggestions on how to improve communication during the pandemic. It was pointed out that it was important that people stayed in touch with people using other channels of communication such as email, phone, or even the old-fashioned letters.

Overall, the responses received can be used to report on the implications of our topic of the survey; how COVID-19 affected communication. There were certain limitations of the survey; hard to keep the participants fully engaged, challenging to reach a certain group of participants like the doctors, and difficulty in convincing people to take part in the survey. Through the responses, it was evident that people’s life had significantly been affected by the pandemic. What was considered normal was no longer available. Getting back to normal would be a slow process that required people to adapt to the new changes in life. Therefore, people should take advantage of technological advancements despite not having the same capabilities as face-to-face interactions.

Survey Questions

1. What is your gender?
2. Male
3. Female
4. Prefer not to say
5. What is your age?
6. Under 18
7. 28-25
8. 26-39
9. 40-59
10. 60 and above
11. What is your race
12. White or Caucasian
13. Black or African American
14. Asian
15. Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
16. Hispanic/Caribbean
17. How did COVID-19 affect how you communicate?
18. Which were the most preferred interaction apps or websites during the pandemic?
19. How did social isolation affect how you communicated?
20. Did COVID-19 affect communication? How?
21. How did you improve communication during the pandemic?

References

Iacus, S. M., Porro, G., Salini, S., & Siletti, E. (2020). Controlling for selection bias in social media indicators through official statistics: A proposal. Journal of Official Statistics, 36(2), 315-338.

Sutton, J., Renshaw, S. L., & Butts, C. T. (2020). COVID-19: Retransmission of official communications in an emerging pandemic. PloS one, 15(9), e0238491.