Brett Cooper

She wrote, For years, popular culture has been permeated with a deeply anti-party sentiment, an attitude that framed those eager to socialize as obnoxious and valorized staying home alone.

During my 2010s teenhood, BuzzFeed listicles and viral Tumblr posts reminded readers that introverts are tortured by small talk and portrayed extroverts as essentially mindless troglodytes.

Online, reams of memes revel in canceling plans and spending a Saturday night in one's pajamas and glued to Netflix.

COVID-19 only made things worse.

Lockdowns got millions of people out of the habit of regular in-person social interaction, and the ultra introverts suddenly had a moral justification for their unwillingness to socialize.

And guys, I want you to know I will be the first to say that I am guilty of all of that.

Like, you know, I make all these jokes about laying down.

I love being horizontal.

I love being in my pajama.

I love being in my cozier pajamas on my Helix mattress.

You know I talk about it.

I love being a homebody and just hanging out with my animals and my husband.

And I will admit that sometimes when I get a last minute cancellation text, I giggle with glee.

Like it is the best news I have gotten all day long.

But guys, even though I do that, like this is not how we build a healthy, thriving, fruitful society.

Because for a lot of people, this now is not just a funny meme or a side thing they do on Friday nights.

This drives how they view socialization.

It is an inconvenience.

It is awkward, maybe challenging for people.

It actually forces you to get off your ass and do things rather than just opening Instagram DMs.