[46Bit]

> You can’t form relationships that way

Plenty of millenials and Gen Z can

We've been building groups online ever since we were little

[strken]

I am a millennial with a few online friend groups and they're not really the same thing. For me those online relationships are loose and impermanent. People are continuously entering the group and continuously leaving never to be seen again. There's some level of trust and stability from meeting in-person that I can never seem to achieve online.

[lloeki]

> For me those online relationships are loose and impermanent

I hate to break the news but most relationships simply are loose and impermanent, we just don't usually notice how brittle they actually are.

As for trust, is it really reasonable to trust someone more or less just because they've been in front of you vs not? And I mean that both ways: too trusting of people in front of us and not enough of people away.

[benfortuna]

It may seem normal, if you have never experienced regular in-person relationships (in a work environment).

Even after WFH for a long time I think everyone becomes used to it, but there is definitely something missing.

[viraptor]

You really don't need them to be in person. Have you scheduled any lunchtime catch-ups? Got any regular group calls around interests? Just random banter? My work group online is a better experience than I've ever had in the office. It may vary for other people and environments, but "something missing" is not a given just because of remote contact.

[lazide]

In the same way junk food is equivalent to a healthy meal (IMO). There is a reason some mental health issues have been skyrocketing, and this is a big part of it.

[sumeno]

Gonna need a citation on this one. Not mental health issues increasing, but online communities being the cause

[icehawk]

Oh that started way before COVID.

[hanniabu]

They think they can, but it's not the same

[the_gorilla]

It's primarily some mental blocker in the old that prevents them from connecting things online to their real-life counterparts. It's like being illiterate and insisting that no one else can read those strange symbols. I'll offer in advance that younger people need to learn to separate the two sometimes.