As everyone knows, we’re living in an unprecedented, crazy time right now. Nonessential businesses are closed, and governments across the world are asking people to stay inside. Social distancing is the best way to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, and as people are adjusting to the new normal, they’re finding creative ways to stay connected while keeping their distance.
As you can imagine, social media is playing a big part in keeping everyone, well, social. Many Instagram users have taken to Instagram Live to document their daily routines while living in lockdown. People are livestreaming anything and everything—you can find videos of people casually chatting with their friends, cooking dinner with their families, or playing with their dogs.
Or, in the case of our own Stephen Tornetta and his fiancé Mitchell Bloom,
live singalongs in the Lysol Lounge.
Some of these videos are pretty mundane, but they illustrate how quickly the world has changed. People are no longer posting photos from vacations, parties, or nights out. Everyone, no matter where they are in the world, is staying inside. (And, if they’re not, they should be!)
With nowhere to go and no one to see, people now have to find entertainment online. And while there are tons of things to watch and read, Instagram Live is providing people with a way to connect to one another in real time. Users can livestream their lives and get instant comments from their followers, making them feel connected while being apart.
But if you’re looking for something a bit different from your friends’ home cooking videos, you can find a long list of scheduled Instagram Live events. These include activities like dance workouts, talk shows, cooking classes, and more. Celebrities around the world are even streaming live content to stay connected to their fans.
Saturday Night Live star Melissa Villaseñor holds a hobby class every day at 2pm, when viewers can watch her sing, do impressions, crochet, draw, and more. She even made cute little Polymer clay figures to keep her company in quarantine.
Some celebrities have even created their own talk shows to keep their fans entertained. Justin Bieber recently streamed Live with Biebs, an hour-long live session where he and his wife Hailey spoke to Kehlani, Lil Pump, Kendall Jenner, and other celebrities who are also stuck at home.
Singers around the world are performing free concerts from their homes while encouraging followers to stay inside. Even if you miss the live “event,” you can find many of the concerts posted to the stars’ Instagram pages, like the one Miguel hosted a few weeks ago.
And, if you want a better view, you can install an Instagram Chrome extension to your desktop that allows you to watch these live videos on a bigger screen. While there are some limitations with the desktop version (you can’t comment, for example), it makes it much easier to follow along to recipes and workouts, and you can comfortably watch concerts and talk shows without using your phone the entire time.
So, if you’re going a little stir crazy while sitting in your house, know that you’re not alone! Whether you want to watch your friend talk to their dog, listen to a celebrity’s talk show or concert, or something else, there’s a ton of content out there on Instagram Live to keep you entertained and connected to the world.
