Anything less than face-to-face socializing is a degraded social experience.
Arguing over healthier forms of social media is like arguing over the healthiest fast food chain. It's just not good for you.
Arguing over healthier forms of social media is like arguing over the healthiest fast food chain. It's just not good for you.
This but unironically
But ideally we can find people that want to make the effort to go out every now and then.
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?
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.
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.