I think it's a symptom of our increasingly divisive culture. We find ourselves leery of in person connect because we see signs all around our IRL communities declaring hard lines of acceptance and rejection. Trump signs in a yards of my neighborhood and around my small town made me and my little immigrant family feel rejected and cut off from any possible community with my neighbors and town.

I think that's been happening for a long time. We see such icons of divisiveness on people's cars and in their yards. I think people turn to seeking connection online because it's denied IRL. But, online connection can never be that IRL human-to-human, face-to-face connection. It's just not the same as sittin' a spell with a neighbor.