[overgard]

Honestly yeah. I used to have a lot of friendships formed in the workplace, but the post pandemic places I've worked, there's certainly coworkers I liked but I can't say I know much about them at all. I don't think zoom socializing works all that great, ie zoom happy hours or whatnot but maybe that's just me.

On the other hand, not having a commute, and not having to fake being busy during down times makes it easier to strengthen outside of work friendships and hobbies.

I also think occasional remote meetups in person can really help. I think it's easier to hold a casual text or zoom conversation if you've interacted in person a bit

[bloodyplonker22]

Zoom happy hours feel more like forced social interactions. Similar to daily stand-ups, but they go around asking how your day was and what you did in your day. And you have to share that with everyone on the call instead of the group you normally talk to in person only.

[syed_h5]

Yes, exactly. It feels forced because we always talk about things that nobody is interested in talking about that much.

I wanna run a hypothetical scenario by you. Lets say you are a fan of the new Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon fan. There is a platform only within your company that you can see which other coworkers you connect with that are also a fan of this big show. Lets say 8 outta 10 people in your team watches the show. So, meetings become more interesting because now you can talk about this immediately.

Now add tons and tons of other topics that you might have in common with your team. Instead of waiting months and years to find out your co-worker of 2 years also loves Tennis, you can know it now, talk about it now, and socially have a better dynamic now.

What do you think of a platform that already does the legwork for you? To bring the teams closer and connect more people based on what they love.

[syed_h5]

I don't think it is just you. That was a very thoughtful reply. I agree with everything you said. I would never want to give up WFH but had a lot closer friendships back in the day.

Do you think you would be interested in a world where WFH stays. But companies offer a way for you to connect with your co-workers based on your most passionate interests? For example if you love soccer, watching tennis, massive Star Wars fan, love taking cruises, you end up seeing your other co-workers who like the same things. So, you can start conversations based on those interests. Meetings would be more fun when you guys talk about the US Open tennis matches or what cruise was the best etc. While being WFH.

I want to know what you think about something like this.