The quarantine season is almost over and boy, what a wild ride this whole thing has been.
From late March, Kenyans have had to contend with unusual living situations that have seen them adhere to strict Government rules meant to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus.
Some of the most stringent rules was the closure of schools, nightclubs, restaurants and churches. Also, the Curfew rules and general stay-at-home measures have seen Kenyans steer further away from their social circles and become hermits holed up in their lonely homes and dreary apartments.
The reclusiveness has, however, been a boon to the internet providers and general online entertainers and companies as more and more people have resorted to their phones and laptops to kick the quarantine blues away.
And now, today, we examine the TOP FIVE things young Kenyans have been doing on their phones and laptops during this quarantine period.
5. YouTube
More Kenyans, than ever, have discovered the alluring power of YouTube and have been binging on YouTube shows, documentaries, new music, couple vlogs , news and other exciting content online. The quarantine has seen a massive spike in YouTube views for all genres of YouTube content than before as more and more people remain glued to their YouTube screens.
4. Studying Online
Because schools have been shut indefinitely, and there’s no clear roadmap on reopening, book lovers have been going online to catch up on their studies, feed their minds and finish up on syllabuses and various units. Zoom classes have ballooned and are applicable to both secondary school students and university comrades too. Online studying has never gotten so intense, so thorough.
The coronavirus took all the money and jobs away. Millions have lost their sources of income and millions more are staring into a bleak future devoid of income and salaries. And that’s when Forex Trading companies took the bait and ran with it. Companies like 51 Capital, ran by the indefatigable Joe Kariuki, have seen an incredible resurgence and powerful presence online.
Young people have been delving into Forex trading in large numbers, minting fast cash online, recruiting their friends and managing to pay off their bills and utilities in ways they could never have imagined. “The virus was like a blessing in disguise. Now, everyone is flocking to forex trading and we’ve seen the numbers go out of control,” Joe Kariuki, CEO of 51 capital says. ‘’Our Telegram channels have also grown super huge and it shows that people are having a lot of time on their hands and are looking for all ways to make a coin,’’ he adds.
2. Porn
We don’t even need to say too much here, now, do we?? PornHub has reported a huge spike in traffic during the Covid-19 period as more people resorted to self-pleasure with the closure of strip clubs, nightclubs and brothels across the world and In Kenya too. The porn site recently published insights tracking user engagement in different countries from the time global concern about COVID-19 began and found traffic across the site has grown exponentially — with daily use to the site increasing by 11.6%
1. Online Dating
Loneliness begets all manner of creative ideas and one of the major ones is searching for partners in the most unlikely places. Normally, Kenyans would flock to weddings, social events, nightclubs, brothels and other places to find a significant other. But with the closure of all of those places, Kenyans have now found new ways to find partners – online dating. Sites like Afrointroduction, Badoo, OkCupid, Tinder and Grindr have seen a massive spike in new members and registrations.
