(1/n) COVID provided major tailwinds to industries such as e-commerce, remote work, and food delivery. While those industries should continue to grow and improve our lives, here’s a thread on why I believe life will return to ‘normal’ sooner, rather than later.
(2/n) Humans are naturally conditioned to want social interaction. A 2018 MIT study found that , ‘10 hours without any social contact, for many people, led to a kind of psychological and physical craving that’s on the same level of intensity as 10 waking hours without food.’ *
(3/n) What does this natural demand for social interaction mean? Well for one it means that people are largely ignoring stay at home orders to see friends and family, but it also means people want to be around other people.
(4/n) According to a survey done by PR NewsWire, 45% of people surveyed have made booked a future trip or started to make travel plans. Of these 45%, 70% plan on traveling in 2021.** Don’t believe me? Look at this photo from my flight this morning. (DW everyone was masked)
(5/n) Cruises are also seeing high demand as a survey by the Cruise Lines International Association found that ‘73% of cruisers say they are "likely to cruise" in the next few years, and 50% say they will cruise within the year.’ ***
(6/n) A live video from my friend at Disney World TODAY. People want to travel!
(7/n)This is all pleasure, what about business travel?Truthfully, I don’t know. However, Forbes did a survey after the GFC which showed more than 8/10 executives preferred in person meetings. 85% selected ‘Builds stronger, more meaningful business relationships’ as the reason****
(8/n) Does that mean $zm will be left for dead once everything returns to normal? Not really, $zm provides us a NEW way to communicate that phone calls don’t. Harvard research has also shown that 16% of workers still want to work remote at least 2 days a week. *****
(9/9) There is a ‘new normal’ approaching due to COVID. However, for the reasons above, I believe the ‘new normal’ will look fairly similar to the old normal. Thanks for reading!! Sources below.
SOURCES

* https://fortune.com/2020/11/24/loneliness-thanksgiving-family-friendship-companionship-human-contact/

** https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/consumer-survey-finds-70-percent-of-travelers-plan-to-vacation-in-2021-301154002.html

*** https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/12/07/cruises-covid-19-passengers-bookings-indicate-2021-demand/6255662002/

**** https://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Business_Meetings_FaceToFace.pdf

***** https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/how-much-will-remote-work-continue-after-the-pandemic
You're not crazy—you really hunger for social contact, scientists say

A lack of social interaction lights up the same areas in your brain as going for hours without food.

https://fortune.com/2020/11/24/loneliness-thanksgiving-family-friendship-companionship-human-contact/
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