At the beginning of the year, I, along with 12 graduate students in the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, set out to find how COVID-19 changed everything. The global pandemic shifted the way many of us view our lives, the workplace, and our hometowns. We set out to find out not only how our lives were impacted, but others’ lives too.
As we worked on these stories, the World Health Organization declared an end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency. While some may think of COVID-19 as a thing of the past, many are still dealing with the aftermath of the deadliest pandemic in U.S. history. These 12 stories are a window into how COVID-19 reshaped the way we live our lives.
Rethinking rituals
Shanghai couple Zha and Nora at their virtual wedding inside the game “Final Fantasy 14.”
One way to measure this change is by looking at how daily life and its milestones shifted. Across the globe, many engaged couples postponed their weddings or opted for virtual ceremonies — like one Shanghai couple, Zha and Nora.
Yanwen Lin, a Chinese journalist, came across a video of Zha and Nora getting married in an online game called Final Fantasy 14, and spoke to them about their experience. Zha and Nora opted for a unique and immersive virtual wedding, filled with avatars, monsters, and dragons.
Zha and Nora are experienced gamers, but many of their guests were not. In order for guests to attend…
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