Talk Soon?

The return to school routines signals the end of summer for most of us. With children still in high school, the return to school also is my connection back into the community that has been part of the last decade of my life. It is a community bound by the shared interest in our kids and their interests. Depending on your child’s interests, you may find yourself in unfamiliar territory like the stands of indoor pools or courtside tennis matches.The beauty of random interactions that foster serendipitous connections. 

I was recently pitched several “find your people” apps by college students where a digital connection is used to find a physical one. Open an app while at the campus library or the dining room, and see if “your matches” are in the same physical space. Is that a sign of the times? A generation raised on convenience and familiarity from our algorithmic digital world, that the discomfort of talking to strangers is too much? 

In 2013, more than 50% of Americans owned a smart phone and Pew Research Center’s surveys year over year has shown that our time is increasingly spent digitally. Difficult not to. Commerce, data intake, payment, entertainment, the list goes on, are increasingly digital. 

Our digital surface area is large and there are many positive aspects: connectivity and discovery fuel our curiosity more than ever. But is that enough?

Look at the two cultural trends that likely speak to our need to still connect socially in the physical world - pickleball and mahjong. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), pickleball is the fastest growing US sport for five consecutive years. Mahjong is no different. According to Yelp’s trend tracker, searches for Mahjong club and Mahjong lessons top 2026 trends. 

Humans are social creatures, but digital interactions have changed our ways of connecting. Increasingly, we are more comfortable commenting, sending texts, rather than engaging in conversations that are without an objective. I have become an oddity as the person who continues to converse in a checkout line, on an airplane, with the local barista. Just like how I fight my digital algorithm, I step out of my bubble to build unexpected connections. How about you?