Communications Major

Three years since the pandemic was declared, many of the apps, platforms and digital tools that millions relied on to stay connected are struggling, shrinking or shutting down. Zoom has slashed 15 percent of its work force. Epic Games killed off the group video app Houseparty in late 2021, and even Meta’s Portal devices, which after years of challenges surged in popularity in 2020, got the ax last year.

For all the advantages and disadvantages of remote work, video calls have emerged as such a widespread pain point that the term “Zoom fatigue” has entered our lexicon — a catchall phrase referring to the tiredness related to video calls on any number of platforms.

With all major categories posting increases, unit sales of print books rose 8.2% in 2020 over 2019....

We picked up a whole new vocabulary this year — some of it words that have been around forever.

Group texts became a social lifeline early in the pandemic. But all conversations must eventually come to an end.

Shawn Mendes has a Chipotle bowl. Charli D’Amelio has a Dunkin’ coffee. But ... why? The logic asks not to be looked at too carefully, only ordered.

This year’s Sopranos boom is being propelled in part by Zoomers who were just being born when the HBO series premiered in 1999, and who are now reexamining and recontextualizing the show through memes to help make sense of their collective condition.