"If you feel like friendships are harder to make or maintain than ever before, you're right. The pandemic did us no favors when it came to building and maintaining close friendships. While we may have been sharing "Zoom Happy Hours" from our deck or sofa, even the most intimate conversations were being mediated by a screen, and vocal nuances and body language cues were often lost."
"Not only did the pandemic whittle away our communication skills, but it also made us lazy. Hanging out online became a preferred choice over hanging out with a friend in person. While most of us know that too much time online is not healthy and that our friendships contribute to overall well-being, establishing and maintaining friendships has grown harder for us along the way. For adults, the workplace is a key hunting ground for new friendships."
Adult friendships have become more difficult to create and maintain because pandemic-era mediated communication weakened face-to-face skills and masked vocal and body-language cues. Many people shifted toward online socializing, which reduced in-person meetups and fostered more passive habits. Remote work and virtual interactions limit the informal, shared-space encounters that help friendships form. Establishing and maintaining friendships now requires intentional investment of time and energy in shared spaces and activities. Researchers label the trend a "Friendship Recession" and report peak adult loneliness. Friendship apps and virtual tools can help as starting points, but in-person connection provides deeper satisfaction.
Read at Psychology Today
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