Technology Saved Our Quarantine

Covid-19 has brought a lot of changes for all of us. We've had to endure months of quarantine and dread, but as we're finally resuming our lives, it's time to look back.

In this thread, we discussed how technology helped us stay afloat and in touch with the world outside our homes. From facilitating work-life, studies, helping to maintain connections, and providing a solid entertainment base, tech became the quarantine superhero.

This Slogging thread by Mónica Freitas, Abeer, Jack Boreham, petar.btc, Malhar Thanki, Limarc Ambalina, Sara Pinto and Favour Amadi occurred in slogging's official #technology channel, and has been edited for readability.

How has technology saved your quarantine? 💻💛

Video Games 💯. It sounds silly but throughout the quarantine, I was able to chat and do activities with friends through various online games such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Minecraft, Don’t Starve Together.

Abeer, I second this; gaming made my quarantine a lot better. I was able to chat with friends like normal. My laptop due to studying and, of course, YouTube, which fulfilled my weekly video binge.

I'd say the crypto & NFTs have helped me stay sane during the early quarantine period.

Once COVID-19 arrived worldwide in March 2020, the IT company I'm working at, dispatched us at home. I've been working like that ever since.

I live alone. The crypto & NFTs are very community-oriented, so I joined many Discord servers and Telegram groups, chatted with like-minded people for hours on end, and didn't feel the loneliness and isolation in real life that much.

I could say I joined the Metaverse before it was cool 🙂

Jack Boreham, Abeer, my gaming was more along the lines of "cards against humanity" online, but it definitely helped. Besides, having the streaming programs, shoutouts to Netflix and HBO, saved me from boredom.

petar.btc, That's amazing! Were you already familiar with Crypto and NFTs before, or did you learn more once you joined those communities?

Favour Amadi, Limarc Ambalina, Sara Pinto, Malhar Thanki, Alex Gideon, Onyewuenyi Nuruddeen, Sambo SALLYcanttdance

How about you?

I completely forgot! Netflix Party, Prime Watch Parties, and similar apps/extensions were great as well. Being able to watch shows with friends and talk about them live really made it feel like they were there with you.

Mónica Freitas, I was already familiar with both concepts, so joining all these online crypto/NFT communities helped me go down the rabbit hole even further 🙂

Mónica Freitas the whole, complete credit goes to technology, right from boring lectures in the morning to video calls/facetime with friends in the evening and binge-watching in the night.

Technology kept people connected when quarantine was trying to disconnect them.

For me it's 2 things:

Similar to Abeer’s answer too, games are more than fun, they help me stay in touch with friends. Guys don't really like to sit around and do a video call, but we are up for squading up in Call of Duty and playing and talking for hours 😄

Mónica Freitas, Even though I am not a very active person, Youtube and its workout videos helped me stay sane. When you have to stay inside and not do much, you really start to appreciate all the daily physical activities that you did without even noticing.

Abeer, Netflix Party! Best thing ever! Get me a similar extension for the other streaming programs and I'll be happy 😂

Malhar Thanki, I have to say online lectures were excruciating for me 😂 would you prefer to keep having classes online or go back to in-person lectures?

Mónica Freitas, You’re in luck. They rebranded as Teleparty because they support Disney, Hulu, and HBO too! And Amazon Prime has its own built-in watch parties. And other streaming apps like CrunchyRoll are getting similar independently created extensions such as Roll Together. It’s amazing how fast technology adapts.

Limarc Ambalina, I didn't know there were exercise "games" for VR. How can you even jump without your headset falling off? But I am curious now (she says while googling VR exercising) 😂

Sara Pinto, Did you fall down the rabbit hole of binging tv shows and movies as well? Please, recommend your workout videos. Get us inspired to follow your lead 🙏

Abeer, I'm praying retrograde mercury lets my computer access teleparty now, ahah. It's incredible, we never really needed those kinds of tools, and just when the quarantine started, there was this huge development. And from what you just said, I'm guessing there is still more news to come in this area.

Mónica Freitas, How could I not? 😂 I have to thank the internet for the unlimited supply of entertainment. About the workout videos, the ones that involved dance and catchy music did wonders to boost my humor.

Mónica Freitas, it has both pros and cons 😥, I like in-person lectures because of the class environment and friends but I like it online because of mental peace😌 as it just takes a few clicks to get into a lecture.

I wasn't a people person before the quarantine but I didn't know how much I needed TikTok in my life. Technology saved my quarantine by allowing me to experience other people in a way I didn't think possible, Mónica Freitas.

Sara Pinto, Please, drop some suggestions on your quarantine favorite shows. We need that if we ever get into another one. Oh, that seems fun! I feel like quarantine was like January for many of us: we all promised to start working out 😂 I know I did.

Malhar Thanki, I'm with you! Seeing friends in class is part of what makes school and uni fun, and in-person lectures help me be more focused but not having to make it all the way to uni to have classes are also a big perk.

Favour Amadi, TIKTOK was my doom 😂 I've spent hours on end there! What is your algorithm like? Mine is mostly music, feminism, LGBTQ+ and nonsense.

Mine's mostly comedy, feminism, music, movies and some really satisfying videos.