There was a big spike in searches about two weeks after the pandemic was declared on March 12, when nearly two thirds of people were in some kind of lockdown. A terrifying and disruptive time for billions, for many it was also a time for finding something to lighten the mood.

This increase doesn’t last long, though. It quickly drops off in the following weeks, eventually falling below pre-pandemic levels. We saw a slight increase last week, but it’s too early to say if things are turning around.

Obviously Google searches aren’t the only way to measure a thirst for jokes. Using our Consumer Research platform we also looked at Reddit, specifically at five subreddits where people post jokes. Here’s how posts to /r/Jokes, /r/dirtyjokes, /r/cleanjokes, /r/oneliners, and /r/dadjokes look since the start of the year.

Post activity jumped during the pandemic, starting in the week before searches for ‘jokes’ peaked. Activity stayed relatively high for just over a month before falling again. Clearly the subreddits struggled to retain this high activity.

But the fall didn’t last long, with activity rising again in the weeks following May 17. We can’t say for sure what caused this, but activity reached another high as we saw Black Lives Matter protests take place in countries around the world. The rise during this time could be another example of people looking for and providing some comic relief during a serious and upsetting situation.

Finally we looked at how much people were laughing online. To do this, we simply tracked how many people posted ‘haha’, ‘hahaha’, or ‘hahahaha’ on Twitter, Reddit, and forums since the beginning of the year.

Use of ‘haha’ (and its variants) started to rise just after the pandemic was declared on March 12. It hasn’t really fallen since – we are now living in a new ‘haha’ normal.

It’s worth mentioning that use of ‘haha’ doesn’t necessarily mean someone is laughing at a joke. It’s often used in sarcastic, exasperated, or angry ways as well. What we can take from this is that people are likely expressing themselves more online, something that makes sense as the pandemic induces a range of emotions in us daily.

We should also note the drop in the use of ‘haha’ that began in the week of May 25. This was when global Black Lives Matter protests first took to the streets after the death of George Floyd. We’ve previously reported on how engaged people have got with the movement online and turning away from other topics. This could be another example of this.

Consumers re-evaluate insurance

Covid-19 has created sudden and intense disruption in all of our lives. So it’s no surprise that the pandemic has triggered consumers to rethink their insurance policies.

Using our Consumer Research platform, we investigated English-language mentions of insurance to understand what consumers were talking about insuring, and what they wanted from their policies in the so-called “new normal.”

Here’s what we found.

Conversation went up in February, March, and April 2020 compared to average volumes in the same period 2017-19, triggered by the spread of the virus and lockdown measures.

When it came to policies, we found consumers were discussing:

• Cheaper policies – 829k
• New policies – 825k
• Losing policies because of employment (and what to do) – 191k
• Cancelling policies – 140k
• Renewing policies – 37k

We also looked at what kinds of policies consumers were discussing on social media.

Healthcare was the top-mentioned insurance policy on social media. Mentions increased 53% in March compared to February, as people considered how their policies would be affected by Covid-19 and employment.

Travel policy mentions increased 111% in March compared to February (the largest percentage increase), as vacations were cancelled and quarantines imposed. Initially consumers wanted to know if insurers would pay out for cancelled trips. But in May this morphed into what travel insurers will cover in a post Covid-19 world – there’s no definitive answer just yet.

Home insurance had the second largest relative increase, with mentions increasing 78% in March compared to February. But rather than how Covid would negatively affect policies, consumers were shopping around for better deals to save money in the crisis.

Car, life, and event insurance conversations also saw jumps of 21%, 24%, and 68% respectively in March compared to February, again driven by consumers looking for more cost-effective policies, and details on how Covid-19 would affect claims.

The pandemic has been a trying time for consumers, and battling through insurance red tape is a part of that. Consumers want to feel supported, and to know they’re getting a fair deal – these factors should be top of mind for insurers looking to create excellent customer experiences this year.

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Brandwatch Response Team