A Pandemic of Drama: How Gen Z Overshadowed 250,000 COVID-19 Deaths with a TikTok Scandal
One of the most devastating pieces of news to date in regard to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic occurred on Thursday, November 19. “THE CORONAVIRUS HAS NOW KILLED 250,000 PEOPLE IN THE U.S.” sat boldly at the top of The New York Times website.
However, this stark number failed to make a blip in the radar that is social media. Instead, the Twitter trending page that day was filled with “Charli,” “Dixie,” “James,” “Trisha,” and “Snail.” What occupied the minds of the millions who participate daily in the social media sphere was not a mourning for the lives lost due to an apathetic response to a deadly pandemic on the part of the federal government, but rather, petty drama surrounding the cancellation of two teenagers for making a poor comment in regard to their followings and not wanting to eat escargot.
My intention in writing this is not to criticize the D’Amelios for being picky eaters, benefiting off of content from Black creators, or rising quickly to fame with little to no talent. Nor is it to relitigate the controversies and xenophobia of James Charles and Trisha Paytas. Rather, this essay serves as a cautious reminder of what we as participants, specifically Gen Z participants, in the digital marketplace of ideas actively choose to prioritize.
What is disappointing about the trending topics of November 19 is the fact that it represents the manner in which we, whether consciously or not, have allowed the shortcomings of the U.S. pandemic response to become, to a certain extent, normalized.
Journalist David Wallace-Wells hits this phenomenon on the nose in his November 15 New York Magazine article: “Un-Normalizing America’s Third Wave.”
“Over the last few months, election-preoccupied Americans have normalized what was once an unthinkable, and certainly an unconscionable, level of death and suffering,” Wallace-Wells writes. “There have been a thousand deaths from the coronavirus a day, roughly speaking, producing a cumulative total that is today approaching 250,000 — more than the number of people who died in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
Wallace-Wells goes on to discuss that normalization as a concept has become “so strong a force in our culture that it muddies our ability to respond to any growing threat,” citing examples of climate change and the slow crumble of our democracy. And while these broader issues may be more removed from the Gen Z confines of Twitter and Tik Tok than they are for those in older generations (although there has been plenty of Gen Z activism surrounding these issues), the ongoing pandemic is an issue which directly affects us all in the here and now, regardless of if we are a middle school student or an octogenarian.
This is not to say that Gen Z is the source of the normalization of the coronavirus — if we’re pointing fingers, I would say that title falls primarily on COVID-deniers in the White House, Congress, and in state and local governments around the country. But as an avid Tik Tok-using member of Gen Z myself, seeing the refusal to wear masks, apathy towards the severity of the disease, and outright antagonism towards those who dare to suggest that social-distancing is a good idea on the part Gen Z-ers certainly makes me hesitant to say that my peers hold no blame.
On November 19, the United States hit another disturbing milestone: a record-breaking 187,428 cases reported in a single day, and 1,962 deaths in one day, a number the likes of which have not been seen since early May.
What I hope going forward is that my fellow members of Gen Z, at the very least, reprioritize what is most important to focus their energies on. There is certainly nothing wrong with indulging in a little bit of internet “tea;” I would be lying to you if I didn’t say that I too enjoy the escapism that influencer drama provides. But what we must remember is that our participation in escapism should never overshadow issues of grave importance — issues like climate change, a coup being attempted by the temporary resident of the White House, and the loss of life due to the ongoing pandemic.
We owe it to our friends, family, strangers, and ourselves to remain informed on such issues, and to actively call out injustice and ineptitude when we see it. Only after that can we feel safe to “spill the tea” on whether or not our fav should have eaten a snail.