Actually we've made an effort to have people over more now, and we gather around the coffee table to chat. And even when we don't have people over, we're more likely to talk and be social.
My main social space is my front porch, which is a semi-enclosed dogrun with ample seating (no TV). My "living room" doesn't have a couch, which naturally forces you towards seating (aforementioned outside). There is a small table, with two chairs only; bookshelves, artwork, and projectspace mostly for standing room only.
Not really much of a socialite, but I really don't like TVs (nor people in my small space).
>current generation feels ... about smartphones
I don't use those, either. Hate that everything is now an app (including parking).
old_man_yells_at_clouds.gif (early forties)
Bossman one day informed me that I'd need to start taking the phone home with me, to which I told him that would not happen: "my free time is my free time." He told me about this cool new tech that'd allow him to 'reach out' any time he had any questions — nah'brah, "I'll quit before doing that."
Eventually I held true.
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Good luck in your own phoneless quest...