Why “Stay Home” Beats Social Distancing

A month ago, “social distancing” didn’t mean anything to most people. But since COVID-19, the term has entered the public lexicon in a big way.

The concept of social distancing has been around for centuries. The idea of shutting down public gatherings and staying six feet apart from each other sounds straightforward. But as it gained traction to combat the spread of coronavirus, a lot of grey areas emerged that muddled the message.

First, groups of 50 were discouraged, then 10. Could people visit each other’s homes? What about restaurants or the grocery store? Was the gym OK? 

Considering the novelty of this term to most people, it was interpreted in different ways.

Officials tried to offer clarifications and updates, and journalists published FAQs. But even people who were committed to social distancing weren’t totally sure they were doing it right. 

As crisis communications to slow the spread grew more extreme, social distancing wasn’t getting the message across.

Stay Home Gets to the Point

Enter “Stay Home.”

Stay Home offers a clear directive that’s easily followed, easily repeated and uniformly interpreted. Now, governments, public health officials and even celebrities on social media are all using the same messaging.

If it was the power of story that got people to understand social distancing, Stay Home got them to practice it.

Social distancing is a responsible act. Stay Home is a rallying cry.

Instagram took that rallying cry to another level with its sticker that allows users to showcase their Stay Home Stories. It brings all of our collective efforts to #FlattenTheCurve into a single place. With Stay Home, social distancing has become a hashtag-worthy undertaking.