The pandemic has significantly changed humanity. For some people, it has become an opportunity to change their lives. For others, this negative life period brings social, economic, and psychological problems. However, it is undeniable that this affected leisure time and raised the question of why are hobbies important, offering a diversity of solutions.
Solving questions and many aspects on the list of most common hobbies by age and other categories highlight hanging out online. However, the latter also has pitfalls and dangers requiring preparation to meet them.
Impact of Coronavirus Infection on Hobbies and Pastimes
The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the daily lives of people around the world. The introduction of social distancing requirements, bans on crowds, and closing borders have seriously affected the global economy, and the cultural sector has been hard hit. The closure of cultural and entertainment facilities (theaters, clubs, cinemas, museums, art galleries, etc.), the postponement of festivals and celebrations, and the cancellation of tourist events and travel have led to the fact that the role of leisure and the lists of the top 10 american hobbies began to change.
Children and adolescents, for whom interpersonal relationships and activities outside the home are faced with the need to restructure their social contacts and look for a suitable pandemic hobby. Adults, especially those working from home, had to adjust to new schedules and increased workloads. All this has led to an increase in emotional tension and an increase in stress among the population. The solution was to spend time online, offering many opportunities for users of all ages.
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The spread of coronavirus infection has led to a change in the usual forms of leisure activities, including the restriction of personal meetings and a ban on visiting places with large crowds of people (theaters, cinemas, cafes, bars). People began to spend less on entertainment, travel, transport, clothing, and restaurants. At the same time, many of them most of all lacked just cultural events:
- visiting a café;
- restaurants;
- museums;
- cinema and theaters;
- walking with friends;
- traveling;
- and sports.
In response to a growing demand from the public, leisure organizers are forced to consider the possibility of using alternative digital platforms and applying virtual reality technologies.
Digitization and Proposed Solutions
Almost all events, activities, and meetings have moved online. A variety of entertainment has become more accessible. There is no need to go somewhere. It is necessary to press a button, a lot has become free or almost free. Museums, galleries, and libraries are creating virtual tours and expanding access to electronic versions of books. Concert halls and theaters organize online broadcasts of performances, artists use social media platforms to perform their works and communicate with fans.
However, the abundance of diverse content has another side. Not everything presented on online platforms has the proper quality. It is necessary to be able to separate the valuable information. Another problem is an overabundance of information, which creates internal tension. A person works all day (meetings, meetings with colleagues on Zoom, calls with clients, etc.), and the most popular hobbies in 2020 are also related to online platforms.
Due to the constant presence of online human sensory systems are overloaded. Mostly sight and hearing are involved. And although it seems that the same cultural experience is being acquired as before, the imbalance in sensory load leads to tremendous fatigue and a feeling of satiety.
For full inclusion in the social and cultural life, it is necessary to have high-quality and fast connection, equipment (smartphones, computers, cameras, microphones, etc.) that provides comprehensive interaction, as well as time. The participants and consumers of digital leisure initiatives are people who still have a job, and there is not so much of this work. There is an opportunity to allocate time for leisure.
At the moment it is not possible to draw any conclusions about the future of leisure after the pandemic. At the same time, it is obvious that this situation has led to a reassessment of many significant issues. Among the latter are the following:
- analysis of leisure activities that were uncritically acceptable, often environmentally unsustainable, or systemically repressive before the pandemic;
- expansion of innovative forms of leisure activities in online, virtual, and digital spaces;
- and much more.
In general, the leisure sector, albeit in different forms, survived this crisis thanks, on the one hand, to the existential need for leisure, and, on the other hand, to the large cultural offer created by new forms of cultural consumption.
Final Words
The pandemic has affected the course of affairs in various areas of life. It did not bypass entertainment by limiting access to many familiar functions and activities. However, this provoked a surge in the use of products donated by the era of high technology.
The latter made it possible to translate into reality various inaccessible options. However, it is significant to remain prudent when using different services to prevent attackers from using your data.