Social Connections, Social Media, and Social Distance: Coming Together in a Pandemic

Abstract This paper serves to provide background on the importance of social interactions in the lives of individuals by showing reports of increased happiness when exposed to positive connections, and likewise decreased happiness when lacking positive connections. Background is also provided on the usefulness of social media when it comes to staying connected with friends and family. Social media creates an opportunity for an individual to create a portrayal of life, so the ability to characterize social media as good or bad is very individualized. When it comes to the recent pandemic and the quarantine that followed, we saw how important it was to maintain connections with loved ones, with online platforms being a great way to do so. COVID-19 not only created but also exasperated social problems globally with the introduction of social distancing and limited interactions.