As governments pass stringent social distancing restrictions and corporations request employees to work from home in order to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, business as usual is no longer usual. More than half (52.2%) of US business professionals surveyed by communication platform Fishbowl said their workplace has restricted travel or encouraged remote work due to the coronavirus.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Blake Droesch and vice president of content studio Paul Verna discuss if people are falling back in love with their TVs, if online video dating will work, why we can't (yet) trust the internet, brands building goodwill during the pandemic, the un-college movement, what the average person looks like and more.

Most influencers consider brand awareness to be their primary role when collaborating with marketers. But in the past year, social networks like Instagram have slowly begun opening commerce features to creators, indicating that influencer marketing could soon play a larger part in driving purchases on social media.

Before the shift to digital, marketers didn’t have a measurable way to track their companies’ growth, which would allow them to prove their worth. As Deloitte Digital's CMO Alicia Hatch put it, “In the C-suite, we were essentially speaking Mandarin to English speakers. No one understood what we were talking about.”

eMarketer vice president of business development Marissa Coslov, principal analyst Mark Dolliver and vice president of research Jennifer Pearson discuss whether distance learning works, what the knock-on consequences are and how parents are using digital to cope, handle, distract and educate their kids. They then talk about the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics, free Amazon Prime Video kids content and the impact Americans think COVID-19 will have on their personal finances.

Business Insider Intelligence senior research analyst Peter Newman discusses the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on connectivity and technology. He considers the skyrocketing data consumption of remote workers on broadband and cloud services, as well as the global rollout of 5G.

eMarketer junior analyst Blake Droesch and senior analyst Jasmine Enberg discuss how COVID-19 changed social media engagement, platform advertising and influencer behavior. They then talk about TikTok's new "Transparency Center," the optimal social media posting lengths, Facebook Stories in other places and Instagram's disappearing text messages feature.

At a time when reliable information about the coronavirus is critical, trust in the news media in Canada is not as high as it should be, according to new research.

In a signal that it has flattened the curve, China reported zero new domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19 in the mainland last month, though that may slightly change as there have been cases brought back by overseas returnees. (Additionally, there is some speculation around the accuracy of these reports.) Editors Note: Since this article's original publication, one county in China has gone into total lockdown again amid fear of a second wave of COVID-19 cases.

With large sectors of the economy unable to do business as usual, many marketers have paused or changed media plans. In one potential early sign of the tough times to come for digital advertising, Twitter updated its guidance to investors earlier this week and announced that it expects to see a drop in Q1 2020 revenues, on a year-over-year basis, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

eMarketer principal analyst Andrew Lipsman discusses the current wave of retail store closures, the seismic shift to online shopping and what retailers should be thinking about during this time. He then talks about why payments firm Square is opening a bank, how you can help your local restaurants and where to watch live streamed music concerts from home.

Having experienced the frustrations of shopping for underwear and socks firsthand, Brian Berger, founder and CEO of men’s lifestyle brand Mack Weldon, set out to reinvent men’s basics.

eMarketer principal analyst Nicole Perrin discusses how the coronavirus will impact tourism. How will it change airlines, accommodation and travel-related ad spending? She then discusses what will happen to movie theaters and ride-hailing services as the pandemic takes hold.