The Battle of Boredom: How teens and twenty-somethings pass the time during COVID-19
By Gianna Perani
Many Americans have reached peak boredom the past few weeks as they sit cooped up inside during the COVID-19 quarantine. People have binge watched shows until there is no more appeal. The baking phase has come and gone through many households. What about the younger generation? The new app Tik Tok has taken the world by pandemic.
Following federal and state guidelines, Americans are social distancing, isolating and quarantining. Now many have found their own struggles with boredom as they sit at home battling the slow hours of the day.
Dave Wilkes, a 27-year-old Florida resident, has not been able to do his job as a hotel valet for the past few weeks. He had to find a way to combat his boredom.
“I’ve been using Instagram and I’m new to Tik Tok. I just downloaded it the other day,” said Wilkes.
The main reason Wilkes downloaded the app was due to his friends consistently sending Tik Tok videos to him via text.
“It’s annoying not being able to open the videos without the actual app,” Wilkes said.
Tik Tok daily usage has almost doubled from 2019 to 2020, according to Business of Apps, a website providing news and insights for app businesses. This increase might be due to boredom hitting Americans during this time of crisis.
Gage Hawkins, a 23-year-old law student, had his on-campus classes cancelled completely. He now stays home and does school online in order to properly isolate himself and social distance. Hawkins said he only leaves his house for his summer landscaping job.
“I think so many people have (Tik Tok) because now that we’re forced to stay at home, people are more desperate now than ever for entertainment,” said Hawkins.
In the teenage atmosphere, 17-year-old Sebastian River High School student Teagan Abraham has also faced some major life changes due to COVID-19. Her volleyball training has been put to a halt as she can no longer go to the gym. She’s found staying at home to be a tedious task.
Tik Tok is very popular in her school, said Abraham. Students send videos, create videos and use the app as a way to interact.
“A lot of people have short attention spans so the short videos appeal to us when we’re bored,” said Abraham on why Tik Tok has had more success than other apps.
It now seems that people have stopped worrying about spending so much time on their phones.
Young people have found something to help them feel connected, without putting each other at risk. Tik Tok has been able to bridge the gap many have faced during this time of isolation.
There once was a time when many people found technology to be a distraction, but now find themselves leaning on it for an interaction.
