Founding Product Design & Systems

How The Pandemic Changed Social Media

The global pandemic has changed the way people live and will continue impact the economy for years to come. In the social distancing era, nearly 60% of small businesses have closed and millions of workers experienced job losses.

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, social media shifted to normalizing less perfection and more real life. Content from leading social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram often flooded with unrealistic posts of people’s lives which sparked a greater need for human connection and positivity during quarantine.

Loneliness and social isolation contributed to the depression of many Americans during COVID-19. With fights over politics, lockdown measures, and mask-wearing all playing out on social media became an endless flood of misinformation and negativity causing confusion in communities everywhere. It was clear that there needed to be a platform built by communities, for communities to stay connected.

Post Launch Success

Empowered with the support of communities across the country, LocalBuzz grew from 0 to over 10,000 active users within 3 months. Through their WeFunder Campaign LocalBuzz raised $50,000 from acclaimed investors in its seed round, and continues to expand in hyper-growth mode.

Reflection
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During my internship, I not only learned how to build a product, but also how to market a brand. Having the opportunity to create a platform allowed me to help communities everywhere during the pandemic during these dark times. I left my internship proud to know that my work ended up scaling the community and helping communities stay connected forever.