Trends of Quarantine
Trends come and go as time moves on, but over the first six weeks of Quarantine, we were able to witness in real time just how quickly some of these trends spread through social media.
As many States have started their reopening phases, here’s a fun look down memory lane of the things many of us all seemed to do in order to stay busy and distract ourselves from reality while at home.
American’s are Sheltering in Place across the country, more time is being spent on their personal source of entertainment, their phone. With apps like Youtube and TikTok that double as video consumption and social media, people not only want to follow suit on these viral trends, but create their own videos replicating the process in the hope of having their own ten seconds of fame. This has led to a mob-like mentality then floods the individuals' feed, creating a sense of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), until they too decide for themselves that they need to try the trend out to see if it's worth the hype.
At first it was the Dalagona Coffee (or Whipped Coffee) that went viral on TikTok. The method is similar to that of a Greek Frappe. Using equal parts instant coffee, sugar, and boiling water, you whisk it together until it creates a foam like consistency and then scoop it on top of a glass of iced milk. At the beginning of quarantine, many were unable to shop at their local coffee shops due to restaurants choosing to shut down for the time being, there was a justification in trying this to feed the personal need for caffeine.
The process is pretty easy, especially if you own a hand mixer and don’t have to whisk it by hand. While most recipes recommend 2 tablespoons of each ingredient, I’ve found that 1 tablespoon is plenty. I also choose to scoop the whipped coffee mixture in my cup first before pouring oat milk on top of it because I find it blends together better that way. Either way, taste wise it definitely lives up to the hype and on the mornings I have a little more time to get ready I love to treat myself to this.
Just as supermarket shelves had been raided of hand sanitizer and toilet paper, yeast became the next “Out of Stock” sensation. Once people began to realize how much free time they had on their hands, it became the perfect opportunity to put their cookbooks to good use and get to baking. People began sharing their loaves of bread on their social media, inspiring others to try it and share it as well.
As well as yeast being out of stock, bread makers became hard to find as well, especially the ones on the more affordable side. Bread makers are ideal for those who don’t have time on their hands, but if you want to have more control over your loaf, making it by hand is the way to go.
One of my childhood friends has been making bread from scratch for years now. While it started as a hobby, after begging him to do so, he now has an instagram account dedicated to his bread making. My favorite dish he makes is Khachapuri, but I love watching the process of how he needs the dough on other steps to create each loaf that he films on his instagram story.
Back when I was a Resident Advisor, one of the programs we would put on the first week of classes was a Tie-Dye event.
Tie Dying is a staple in adolescence, an easy group activity for summer camps or birthday parties leaving children with a keepsake from the event. It’s recent surge in the 2020 era comes with a new twist of forgoing the bright colors of the past and instead opting with more muted tones or using darker material with a bleach dye effect. This trend was already in the works in the fashion industry as many clothing companies such as Urban Outfitters and Victoria’s Secret Pink already have the clothes ready to go. Other clothing brands that didn’t have their own tie dye apparel are instead dedicating sections of their website to plain white clothes that one can tie dye themselves, in the hopes it’ll boost sales.
However much like the other trends of this time of isolation, the popularity from this comes from people having an ample amount of time on their hands and discovering they don’t need to pay the big bucks for these products. It’s also a way for those who went into spring cleaning mode the first week at home to repurpose some of the clothes they had planned on getting rid of.
While I knew there were many designs you could make based on how you folded your apparel and wrapped it with rubber bands, its been interesting to learn about the many different methods you can use instead of the typical kit. Two methods I’ve seen gaining popularity are bleach dying and ice dying.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons seems less like a trend and more like a phenomenon. The game, which was released on March 20 just days after many states went into their initial lockdown, is an update from the original for the Nintendo Switch. While nostalgia plays a key role in the game's popularity, another draw is the social factor. With the Switch, friends can go over to each other's islands and hang out with one another, allowing for a sense of community while still in the safety of one's own home. Switches on their own became incredibly difficult to come by, Target’s would even include it on their list before entering of what in demand items they had in stock.
Back to the game itself, Animal Crossing is also time consuming, with players needing to check in each day to complete tasks. Customizing islands and homes inside the game also takes a good amount of free time and dedication, which is perfect for those trying to find something to distract themselves with.
Not wanting to let important milestones be passed by during this time, drive thru style birthday’s became quite popular, with attendees decorating their cars, blasting music, and honking their horns as they drive by the honoree’s house to drop off their gift.
Five months later though this trend seems to be replaced by outdoor socially distanced celebrations taking place at the park where everyone can set up a chair six feet a part and bring their own snacks to enjoy as they catch up with their friends.
While some might look at these trends and assume people are “jumping on the bandwagon”, there’s another more positive way to look at it. Even in this time of isolation, we are all trying to find a way to get through this. We’re sharing our experiences in the hopes of inspiring our peers, creating a conversation, and finding a way to pass the time until we are able to return to a little more sense of normal.
