By Nina Steele
With so much uncertainty facing us all, finding something to laugh about, even for a few seconds, is bound to do us good. Thankfully, social media has not failed to deliver on coronavirus inspired jokes. Just recently, the video of a single woman complaining about having to go through lockdown alone, went viral.
The said video has been popping up on my Facebook feed for the past few weeks and it is hilarious. I cannot quote everything she says in the video because part of it is rather rude, but one line that got me laughing out loud was when she said: “I am single in a pandemic and I feel like shit”. She goes on to complain that single women thought they had options this year, only for coronavirus to take all those options away. If the video was intended to send out a serious message, what it has achieved instead is make people laugh.
Lockdown posts have been doing the rounds too. One reads: “Do not call the police about suspicious people in your neighbourhood. These are your neighbours without hair colouring, make-up and hair extensions”. Oops! Another poster reads: “Fed up. Want to do something wild? Maybe go outside?” etc, etc. There are countless similar jokes going around, with new ones being uploaded every day.
Considering the enormity of the challenges facing humanity, I have been surprised at the increase in funny posters and videos. It seems that faced with a choice of either being depressed by it all or being hopeful for the future, many people are choosing the latter option. We may not know what the future holds, but at least, for some of us, going with the flow is all we can do.
You often hear about social media being a cesspool and those criticisms are justified. However, like the internet itself, it has its good and bad sides. There is no denying the amount of filth that is on there, but equally, there are also uplifting and hilarious stories that are absolutely needed in these difficult times.
I have come across a few posts in which some people have tried to imagine what it would be like had this pandemic happened at a time when we didn’t have social media. It is a weird thing to even consider, bearing in mind how important a role social media plays in the lives of so many of us. I don’t have an answer to that question, but all I can say is that, thanks to social media, a lot of people are coping with this pandemic better than they would have otherwise.
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