To live vicariously is to experience the world in our minds through imaginative or sympathetic participation in the experiences of another person. As our daily lives become more and more interwoven with the Internet, and especially with social media, our identity construction and portrayal, as well as our interaction with others is increasingly taking place online.
This trend became even more obvious during the COVID19 pandemic when we spent long periods of time stuck at home, cut off from direct contact with others. Faced with the impossibility of doing the things we were so used to pre-pandemic, many of us began to seek out ways of experiencing the world vicariously, through the experiences of others.
Lockdowns · social distancing · stay at home · exercise alone · buy online · work from home! The Covid19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns set in place the ideal conditions for vicarious consumption to flourish.
