For some reason backflips always seem to catch one’s attention. Photo Courtesy of junior Atticus Drake.

  With the greatly decreased social interaction during the pandemic, San Luis Obispo High School students turned to entertainment platforms like YouTube and Instagram for their daily engagement needs.

  Expressions interviewed some students to get their thoughts on this increase in social media usage.

Expressions: What kind of sports videos do you usually watch?

Senior Sefton Strickland: I watch lots of wrestling and martial arts, as well as some football  

Sophomore Phil Cao: I normally like to watch motorsports and extreme sports, mainly because they’re not traditional.

Junior Gavin Curren: A lot of water sports and biking. Also motorcycles and racing.

Expressions: Why are these videos so entertaining?

Strickland: I want to be like them, they are just so cool.

Cao: I’ve found that sports that deviate from the path of ‘two teams attempting to score on one another’ seems much more interesting as they test the boundary of huma limits.

Curren: They’re fun and exciting to watch.  Some of them make you jump out of your seat a little bit.

Expressions: How did you get interested in them?

Strickland: The algorithm knows me and surrounded me with them.

Curren: The water sports aren’t that familiar to me.  It’s fun to see something different.  Also the more you click on, the more of that type shows up in your feed.

Expressions: Did the decreased social interaction during COVID-19 cause an increase in interest for you?

Strickland: Yes, during COVID I worked out a lot more so I was getting more and more interested in watching athletic content.

Cao: COVID-19 forces me to think about sports that don’t require other people to enjoy.

Curren: Yes.  If I have nothing to do I tend to take my phone out and start scrolling.

Expressions: Why do you think videos like these have become so popular?

Cao: The videos have become popular mainly because of how different they are compared to normal sports.

Curren: Because they are really cool and entertaining short clips.  It’s a form of entertainment that doesn’t require you to sit for ten minutes.  Watch it and whether it’s good or bad move onto the next clip.  And if a few people think it’s cool and click on it it shows up on other people’s feeds more.