Freya India

I think that we as a generation had a very unstable foundation in many ways.

A lot of us had unstable families.

We didn't know our neighbors.

We didn't have a sense of community.

We're much less religious.

And so we have less sources of belonging and security and stability in our lives.

And then I think what happened is

these social media platforms came along.

And we're sort of adrift at that time with nothing to anchor us.

And what these platforms essentially do is offer a series of simulations and substitutes for these things that we never experienced.

And so something that is quite painful about my generation is that we think a community is something like Instagram.

And we get advice from people on Reddit or we watch YouTube influencers because we haven't actually had the experience of knowing our neighbors and having a community.

And so I think...

My argument is not that it's just social media, but I think social media was particularly bad because we were already in a vulnerable position where we didn't have these sort of anchors in life.

And so, you know, you're completely right that people can have great interactions online, but I think growing up, interacting online and getting very comfortable with an online community and the online way of socializing stunts you somehow, and it drains the time and the energy

that it takes to join a real community.

And I often argue that I think for our generation, we're actually not lonely enough because we can use all of these simulations

to sort of fill that void a little bit so we can watch a YouTube video instead of going out with friends.

And it's a little hit of connection, but it stops you from actually going out and trying to meet people.

Yeah, of course, it's a tension.