The Coronavirus Multiverse

“Multiverse — a hypothetical collection of potentially diverse observable universes, each of which would comprise everything that is experimentally accessible by a connected community of observers. A multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them.”

As we all sit, on what seems to be day forever of this Quarantine, it hit me that a global pandemic is one of the only things that can disrupt every part of society & reality all at once. COVID-19, like the Multiverse, is a place where it’s circumference is nowhere, and its center is everywhere. Everything (realities) is blending into one, while only one thing (virus) is blending them all. Now, imagine, as you are sitting there reading this, that some amorphous clouds start to build around your head, like a halo. But these clouds aren’t empty, each one represents concepts, interests, feelings, concerns, projections & observations, all due to the complexities of this virus on your life and the world. These clouds are individual universes inside of your multiverse. Today, I am going to write about some of the first few universe clouds around my mind, which are essentially the side-effects of this pandemic, against a range of topics from my perspective.

Music Artist< — >Streaming< — >Social

Once the stay-at-home orders started to take effect, and the new normal of being self-contained permeated, most artists said, “ok, now what?”. Because who in our lifetime has ever had to release music/content under a quarantine during a global pandemic? With everyone staying in place for the last few weeks, certain clues have started to emerge with an answer.

The initial assumption was that since live music events were canceled for the foreseeable future, music streaming numbers should rise as an overcompensation for the lack of consuming experiential music. But not so fast, says Rollingstone. Now, why is that? Leading indicators point to a tyranny of options at the listeners, newly, self-prisoned home. Besides the obvious, emotional & mental complexities of this pandemic; most listeners now have families or a partner to maintain, Netflix (or any other VOD service), Gaming, FaceTime, (live) Social Media & 24hr news cable updates to contend with.

This intense competition for attention has reduced the music streaming slice of the ‘attention pie’. Now, this brings us to one of the hungrier slices of that pie, which is social media, especially, Instagram, with its ‘Live’ feature. Instagram Live has revealed one of the strongest new (but ancient) behavioral trends from consumers to pay attention to: The need for connection, the need to commune & the need to maintain status (real-world status maintenance is limited at the moment). With the removal of our daily in-person connections, the need for hi-fidelity human intimacy has drawn listeners to, first, connect with their personal/professional networks, via FaceTime & ZOOM, but also, Instagram live, as it has risen as the de-facto place for public congregation, it has shown that togetherness is a craving, even if it's virtual.

Now, what about status? We, humans, desire social capital (status). We all look for ways to virtue signal our status to the world and look for the frictionless ways to do so (conscious or sub-conscious ). So, during this quarantine, for most people, the typical “status devices” aren’t available to display at the moment; there is no new watch, new car, new sneakers, a new dress, new body, a new restaurant, new high-status person to pose with, or no new cool exotic place to inspire a “wish you were here” out of, etc, etc, etc. If everybody is at home (and possibly cash sensitive), no one is expected to signal status, but the need is still there. So how do most people quickly signal status during a pandemic on Instagram? Similar to real life, let’s start by going to the hottest club where high status and high net worth people are — but virtually, and that’s by joining your favorite DJ, Artist or Influencer’s IG Live stream. Now how is the status achieved? Who are the participants? Let’s break down each of these actors and their motives:

1. Viewer — They want to be entertained and want associated status for being in attendance at a “party” that may have celebrities (VIPs).
2. The Host — They want a large number of viewers (hopefully returning) and want the status of having the best Instagram Live — club, concert radio show or party, that everyone “must join”.
3. Celebrity — They want to maintain & augment their existing status and be recognized as a VIP in these unlimitedly filled digital venues.

Now let’s take a look at how status is distributed between all 3 actors in a 360 cycle.

There's an unsaid, subliminal, conversation being had with these 3 in the following:

Host to Viewer: “I promise to always entertain you and will try to bring high-status individuals for you to be close to, to provide a moment of being cool & give you share-worthy moments to spread to your friends.”

Viewer to Celebrity: “I promise to always try to come if you keep me entertained and give me a celebrity to feel close to, I’ll even help you notice them in the live chat if you’re distracted. Because they need their recognition to stick around and I need them to stick around to get my associated status.”

Celebrity to Host: “I will always try to make an appearance, especially if you have enough viewers, and are able to publicly recognize me, so my presence reminds people of my status. Which in turn will always keep more viewers coming and elevate your club's status as the place to be.”

This 3-way conversation is how status is distributed in a virtuous, self-fulfilling cycle on IG Live (and in many other online/offline places).

Some artists are experiencing some trepidation over releasing music/content during this pandemic. But COVID-19 hasn’t stopped the need for people to be entertained, it’s even more needed at this time. A new normal is taking place, & figuring out how to remain relevant during these times is critical.

I don’t normally agree with Akademiks, but this was one of his most astute observations, especially from his current position in the industry and a sure sign of the cultural times. It may be smarter to release new music/content now and influence a possible new sound/era, rather than to wait for the entire music world to start putting out music again, and face a ‘hunger games’ like atmosphere for listener attention later. The artist who can put out music/content now can change the narrative of what’s in vogue, and those who choose to sit on music/content will have a riskier challenge later if an aesthetic change occurs. Creators who release music/content now can make the cautious artist, perhaps, sound dated later. Artists who are the most creative, with the minimum amount of tools & resources (IG Live, Tik Tok, Triller, etc), will always disrupt the complacent artists.

Time Distortion< — >Predatory Opportunism< — >Conspiracy Theories

“There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” — unknown (often misattributed to Vladimir Lenin)

‘Covid Standard Time’ — Image: Paris Tosen “Evidence of Time Distortion”

Up until a few weeks prior, it felt like just a few seconds ago that the Kobe Bryant fatal tragedy happened. But as these days get exponentially time-sequenced and turned into weeks, it now feels like it was part of another distant time scale and we are at the beginning of a new one. I’ve been seeing an IG caption meme develop, people are writing, “2020 BC” (before corona), on pictures taken before the quarantine. This playful intuition by people lends to the reality that it feels like time has quantum leaped. For most people, our work/school schedules are upended, plus we’re confined to a central place, so we know where we are at all times, just not when. Coupled with the fact that we innately know that the world will change after this, and that the fragility of our life span lays at the mercy of one air droplet containing COVID-19. Our new ‘frozen forever’ sense of time could be measured in a new time zone, ‘Covid Standard Time’. One of the interesting things with this new type of CST time zone, ironically, is that we could see the future in regards to how CV-19 could potentially affect us. In January, we looked at China, not as a fateful crystal ball that we can avoid, but as a distant portal of a movie that wouldn’t affect us. We didn’t believe in the future. 45 days later, we saw our future, yet again, in Italy, and we still didn’t believe in the validity of a possible future. However, our future slowed down and caught up with us, and so we are here.

With us being there, an economic crisis has come along with it making this crisis a tale of two pandemics, which underscores 2 points I am going to focus a bit on:

1) It accelerates negative, financial, underlying trends (dying businesses/weak business models) that were sustained by a strong economy. 2) It amplifies latent monopoly power that was already seeding in businesses or individuals — both of these items have revealed ‘Predatory Opportunism’. P.O is when institutions or individuals take advantage of a newly found position/opportunity in the time of crisis, to over-leverage those in need. The main targets of predatory opportunism are the newly displaced individuals from the job market due to the pandemic crisis. For instance, as people need fast cash, they may desire to sell things for easy liquidity, so in turn, they may visit, say, a pawnshop. This pawnshop, aware of the crisis, might start instantly devaluing inbound items — offering fewer pennies on the dollar — for products that they previously spent higher on before corona, further leveraging the desperation and limited options that people are currently in. Additionally, loan sharks will be an even more debilitating option. These loan sharks will give horrifically higher interest rates on the dollar, again, knowing the desperation and the fragility of the population at hand.

That fragility also helps reveal another dynamic during this pandemic, conspiracy theories. While I won’t be addressing specific conspiracy theories or their validity. I do, however, have a few evolving thoughts on why they come about so strongly during these times.

1. Lack of institutional trust (Gov't, Corporations, Powerful figures, etc).
   Just like everything else, a global pandemic just supercharges everything that was trending before its arrival. If there was a lack of trust, it is certainly in overdrive at this time.
2. In conjunction with #1, and also seeing too many patterns where there aren’t any patterns, may prompt people to feel the need to “check-out” of the reality they are witnessing.
3. After “checking-out”, then comes filling the gaps with bespoke grand narratives (self-created or absorbed) in order to make sense of the reality they chose to leave out of.
4. Finally, just as COVID-19, but with unlimited scrolling screen time, grand narratives go viral.

These were the first 6 of the smaller universes in my multiverse. I hope to make this a series. Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks for reading!