Project (I)solation – Everyday Life and Media Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic has placed our relationship with digital media in a new context. Regardless of age, the isolation had significant impact on our everyday routines, of which media use has become a constant factor in one form or another. We may have never tried to use so many new applications in such a short time before, as for many of us media was the only connection to the outside world. However, after the quarantine, there are several questions that may arise following the extreme situation. Were we captured or rather liberated by the online media? What did we learn about online life and our relationship with the media during the epidemic? How could the digital generation adapt itself to the new circumstances? What challenges and problems did Generation Z face during the quarantine? How have young people’s daily routines, media use patterns, news consumption, learning and/or working habits changed? How about their general attitudes towards the media and their effects on them? In the study below, I seek answers to these questions based on the results of an international, interdisciplinary research project called TOGETHER initiated by the University of Pécs (Pécs, Hungary) and Hochschule für Kommunikation und Gestaltung (Stuttgart, Germany).