[disambiguation]

Think about what you get out of face to face socializing. It's not just verbal communication. You get facial expressions, body language, their style, their image, their smell, you can touch them. I can pass you snacks, a beer, give you a hug hello and goodbye. You're in the room together. You're sharing an experience.

No other form of communication enhances, adds too, or improves on these things - with the possible exception of VRChat.

Voice chat and message chat offer a fraction of the full experience. Not to mention dealing with unreliable and sketchy brokers and middle men. You can talk, but there are rules, sometimes subscriptions, or other strings attached. Also they get to spy on you and sell your private information at will. Social media is lesser still. A feed about your life so acquaintances and strangers alike can casually browse your life history at will. They'll know about you, but never really know you. They'll only know what you show them.

You see, it's not just about the richness of information or experience for its own sake. Ask yourself why we socialize? What's the goal? It's to develop a connection. But there's a difference between good and great connections. How strong of a relationship can one develop when the "handshake" is limited, restricted, and fundamentally flawed?

[amon22]

It's a different kind of communication but I don't think there's a qualitative difference between them. They are just different, with their unique set of benefits and disadvantages. Online communication might be asynchronous for example (which allows more frequent communication) and better suited to share pieces of digital content like pictures/videos/links which might not be important for you but for younger people it is. They can still meet each other offline of course (it would suck to go to a digital concert or whatever, nobody does that) but there's a shared cultural context that is digital and online communication is what enables this. I think it's close-minded to dismiss that.

Also developing a deep connection or whatever is rarely the "goal" of casual socializing (which is what online communication is for). But it also helps keeping your "real" friendships strong by enabling frequent and convenient communication even when life doesn't allow meeting frequently.

[disambiguation]

> and better suited to share pieces of digital content like pictures/videos/links which might not be important for you but for younger people it is

Again, it's better in person. Let's watch it together, not defer it hours, days, or ghost it entirely. Otherwise my text group is reduced to an algorithmic content feed. Optional, impersonal.

> but there's a shared cultural context that is digital and online communication is what enables this.

Culture exists in the real world and is imported online. Nothing about online is necessary to have a shared context.

> Also developing a deep connection or whatever is rarely the "goal" of casual socializing

Yeah, if all you're aiming for is casual, then social media is great. Just like fast food is great for a casual diet.

> But it also helps keeping your "real" friendships strong by enabling frequent and convenient communication even when life doesn't allow meeting frequently.

The point being that you do have to eventually meet again in person, as a relationship that moves entirely online is really no relationship at all.