It has been five years since Scotland began to shut down in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
On March 19, 2020 the Scottish Government announced that all schools and nurseries were to close their doors, with pubs, restaurants, gyms and more venues around the UK all told to follow suit a day later. But it wasn’t until March 23 that then Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the entire UK to announce a total lockdown, telling everyone to “stay at home” with legal restrictions on travel, work and spending time outdoors all put in place.
Lockdown in Scotland commenced on March 24, 2020, with additional measures regarding social distancing and staying at home introduced, many of which would remain for almost two years.
During those early lockdown periods, almost everything about daily life became unrecognisable. From no longer being able to socialise in person to the new daily commute from bed to the couch, it was an unprecedented time in history which led many to seek out alternative forms of entertainment.
Whether it was downloading Zoom and having online pub quizzes or binge-watching Netflix series like Tiger King, people found new ways to cope with reality at that moment in time.
Covid is still here. But five years later, life has returned to normal and the worst days are now behind us. With so much having changed in that time period, here we take a look at some of the defining cultural moments of lockdown.
9. Trying TikTok hacks and recipes
Speaking of TikTok, there is a large section of the app dedicated to recipes, lifehacks and more, from using a dressing gown belt to curl your hair or attempting to make the ultra-viral Dalgona coffee after seeing an ASMR video on your feed. | svetlana_cherruty / Adobe Stock
10. TikTok music
It was also around this period that TikTok became a tool for music discovery – for better or worse. Trending songs on the app would make their way to mainstream music charts, from The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights – now the most streamed song ever – to Megan Thee Stallion’s Save and more. Many, many more. In fact, if you take a look at the UK Singles Chart from April 2020, you can see the fingerprints of TikTok everywhere, fom Roses by SAINT JHN to Say So by Doja Cat and so on. | Getty Images
11. Zoom
Video conferencing tool Zoom surged in popularity during the Covid pandemic amid a major increase in remote work and distance learning. It became one of the most downloaded apps in the world, and outside of work or education, many of us used it to attend online events, pub quizzes and more. | DenPhoto / Adobe Stock
12. Among Us
Like TikTok, Among Us was released a few years before Covid appeared. But it wasn’t until 2020 when the online multiplayer game spiked in popularity. Influencers began playing the game on sites such as Twitch and the fun whodunnit format very quickly spread as people stuck at home looked to entertain themselves. | Innersloth