Llamas (‘23) Forges Quarantine Friendships Through Social Media
Social media has been looked down upon as just another factor to the phone addiction teens face around the world. However, this year many have changed their perspectives and focused on the advantages of these apps. Although screen times may be greater than the hours of sleep students get in a night, teens spend a majority of these hours communicating with close friends. In fact, Ava Llamas (‘23) met her best friend earlier this year thanks to the power of social media.
Prior to the pandemic, Llamas barely used social media as a means of communication with her friends. Other than the occasional scroll on Instagram or quick text, she didn’t use TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, or even FaceTime all that much.
However, when schools shut down, students were robbed of their main form of socialization. Llamas mentions that with the fully virtual setting, she’s unable to have those small gestures of friendship at school, such as a simple wave during a passing period, laughing together during lunch, or smiling across the room to friends in her class. Llamas used to see these apps as another way to fill up her free time, but it is now an important part of staying in touch with her friends. With strict social distancing guidelines in place, teenagers have heavily relied on social media and their phones to connect with friends. Some of Llamas’ favorite apps to utilize are TikTok and Pinterest. She says she sees TikTok as a time killer and a great way to make her friends laugh. On the other hand, with Pinterest, Llamas and her friends have crafted their ideal futures together, getting inspiration for activities to do as soon it’s safe to reunite.
However, Llamas is still reluctant about hanging out with others during this time.
“I don’t know who they’ve been around,” she said, “so I’d much rather be safe at home knowing I did my part in containing the spread of COVID.” Despite the lack of human-to-human connection, over the past couple of months, Llamas has even created new friendships. “Oddly enough,” she said, “I feel like I’ve created such special friendships even if we haven’t seen each other in person.”
Instagram has been a key factor in growing the friendships Llamas and her friends have created. Although she has had the app for a long time, Llamas says she barely used it. Before technology became the main way to communicate, she used Instagram more to keep up with what was happening in the world rather than to connect with others. This all changed at the turn of the new school year in early September.
Days before the new Virtual Learning Academy officially launched, Llamas tapped through stories full of students’ new schedules in hopes of finding at least one friend, or simply anyone, in her class. Then, she came across one story where someone in her grade included the logo of a YouTuber she watched. After a back and forth debate between to send or not to send in her head, Llamas built up the courage to reach out.
“It was nerve wracking,” she said, “hitting that send button to a girl I’ve never talked to and only seen around school before. Little did I know, because of her Instagram story, I would have made a new friend.” What Llamas saw as simply seeking a familiar face led her to meeting someone new.
Llamas adds that the pandemic has both positively and negatively affected her friendships. Focusing on the silver lining, Llamas believes that she has been able to connect with people on a much deeper level than she would have if she were in school.