Netizency’s Social Recap: December 2021 Trends

CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD. In what is possibly the most imaginative and original fan service in Hollywood, reminiscent of iconic comic book storylines, Marvel and Sony teamed up to bring back the main actors from the two previous Spider-Man movie incarnations. Most of the GCC online community marveled at the appearance of Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield, the first and second Spider-Mans, respectively, tapping on childhood nostalgia from the early 2000s when the very first movie was released.

Officially introducing the concept of the ‘multiverse’, amazed fans could only imagine Marvel’s plans for the future of the franchise as well as the potential introduction of important characters, like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, into the current universe even if they were taken to the big screen prior to Disney’s Marvel acquisition.

Health

The arrival of the Omicron variant to the Gulf materialized in December and thus it became the center of the health conversation. Gulf users followed attentively all governmental recommendations and shared all news related to the variant as new research emerged progressively, in order to gain better awareness of the situation and to be able to respond to it properly.

The most important theme surrounding the spread of the Omicron variant was its reportedly faster propagation speed. Numerous reports showed that Omicron is even more virulent than the Delta variant, leading users to ring the alarm and temper the expectations for their social activities and to call out those who forget the continuous risks of the pandemic and had stopped wearing facemasks and socially distancing.

As the month progressed and the Omicron cases rose, Gulf users found each other testing positive en masse. After initially worrying that the national health systems would not be able to manage a sudden influx of patients, the online community saw that most Omicron cases were milder than previous variants, playing along with memes and even poking fun at the sheer number of cases within their social circles that did not evolve to graver symptoms—yet never underestimating the public health risks of the pandemic.

Indeed, it is telling that despite the fact that new variant is taking the world by storm, GCC users highlight how the Gulf community is maintaining its composure and showing resilience in handling potential increases in social distancing policies and restrictions and also continuous trust and encouragement for vaccinations. In line with their national policies, users are encouraging the community to take booster doses, which, even if not fully eliminating the risk of infection, do largely mitigate serious symptoms and will allow being better prepared to weather out a new wave.

Education

The holiday season offered a much-needed, even if temporary, respite from stress-driven education conversations in December. Content from students and teachers going on vacation to parents enjoying a break from school schedules was the positive highlight of this month’s discussions.

The surprise of the year-end, though, was the unexpected decision by the UAE government to change the working week. Starting on Monday and ending on Friday, instead of the more regionally traditional Sunday to Thursday schedule, the new working week became the focus of conversation across the region, including those in relation to education, since the change means schools will adhere to the new schedule. Many UAE users wondered how the new week will be felt, but remained optimistic to see positive outcomes from it.

In a slow but dramatic twist during the second half of the month, and as the alert for a new Covid wave became more real, governments across the Gulf mandated a temporary return to online-only education for grade schools to limit the impact of the new variant. Naturally, the online student community was not thrilled with the idea, given the months of comparative normalcy experience in the classroom, but acknowledged the need to avoid all risks.

Once again, a large concentration of educational mentions came from Saudi Arabia, with a steady number of Google searches of Saudi educational platforms Madrasti and Noor. With the return of online-only education, robust national educational infrastructure becomes more important than ever and these platforms have been showing how relevant they are month and month again.