Snapchat has published some new insights into how students feel about education, in light of COVID-19, and the impact that the pandemic has had on the school year. And while it’s impossible to estimate the full ramifications of the lockdowns and associated changes, the data does shine a light on some relevant trends relating to education and schooling. 

As explained by Snapchat:

"A majority of US Snapchatters who are in school (84%) report that their schooling has changed this year due to COVID-19, moving at least partially to remote learning. [.] This shift to remote learning is emerging as a unifying moment for Snapchatters around the globe."

According to Snapchat, since the effects of COVID-19, most students are now contemplating their career choices. It is according to Snapchat that 47 percent of US students who had fixed paths now reassess their options. Makes sense, really; many of those students would have been close to entry into the labor market itself, which now, by their own admission, is going to be a much more difficult task, but this introspection also, apparently, changed for many people's perspectives regarding education broadly and its possible utility in the future.
Snapchat states that, in fact, there's a big difference in direction here when it compares younger audiences' attitudes:

"About half of today's forward-thinking Gen Zs and Millennials (47%) want a non-traditional career path, compared to less than a quarter of Gen Xers and Boomers (23%)." 

Could that be the YouTuber effect? Many kids these days are growing up watching YouTube and TikTok stars, as much as they are traditional TV celebrities (if not more). And that could potentially shift their assessment of what it takes to be a success and have a career as an astronaut with these types of personalities basically becoming billionaires through doing videos on what they're passionate about. That level of exposure was seen in the findings from a study conducted on behalf of Lego last year, where kids are now 3 times more likely to aspire to the idea of being a YouTuber instead of an astronaut.

Could changing attitudes toward education as reflected in these statistics further relate to the influence of modern media inputs?
However, at the same time, Snapchatters do view education to be important:

"That's not to say Snapchatters don't value their education. In fact, many say it's very important to them, with those in Malaysia (67%), Indonesia (58%), Brazil (57%), and Spain (55%) the most likely to agree."

But the stress of Covid 19 could be added on:

 "Teens use the term "Stressful" to describe school. Their education is stressful enough in normal times, but even more so with the added concerns of COVID-19 and new rules to follow on campus."

It makes sense that, with more kids spending more time online, and viewing influencer content, that the lifestyles they see depicted would be increasingly appealing amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Another key element of the Snap study looks at the impacts on social interaction as a result of the pandemic, and how students are coping with such.

"School is such an important setting for young people to make new friends and connect through social activities like eating together, hanging out between classes, and going to dances and events. With masks and social distancing guidelines in place and schools having shifted partly or fully online, forming those lifelong friendships will look a little different.". Snapchatters will continue searching for fun opportunities to meet and hang out with friends but rely more heavily on digital tools when real life interactions aren't possible.
Well that could be an important trend or angle for marketers to take is note that the younger audiences and a lot of them are desperately reaching ways about how to maintain connections. Because that makes virtual events far more appealing; for example, in itself as there was much interest recently seen in TikTok hosting their virtual concert by The Weeknd.
Of course, these types of events will never replace real-life connection. But people need some way to stay in touch, and that could make video calling and messaging options a much bigger and more relevant consideration.