[wolvoleo]

Well my family doesn't live in the same country and most of my friends I don't see every day yet I communicate with them daily. Same with the communities I'm in, they're really active online.

And all my stuff is connected yes but not through big tech cloud. It is pretty easy to avoid all that. I use home assistant and I buy stuff specifically because it supports local connectivity. The biggest issue is whatsapp for now.

[ElProlactin]

I won't dismiss that technology can be great for keeping in touch with people (especially family) who are not physically close to you but we should also acknowledge that there's a huge difference between digital interactions and face-to-face connection. There is a compelling body of evidence that the latter provides far more emotional and mental health benefits than the former.

Anyone truly interested in their well-being should make sure they're not treating digital interactions as a 1:1 substitute for real-life connection.

[wolvoleo]

Well my friends I meet in person a lot too. This is in fact most of the stuff we talk about online, plans to meet up.

And with the family yeah it's not healthy but it is what it is. Flying home more is not really an option either.