I want community – but am I prepared to put the work in?

When it’s real, present and felt, community can be a source of social connection, belonging, shared purpose and meaning. More often – and increasingly, in the absence of other social safety nets – it’s invoked in the abstract as something we desire, or should be working toward.

a community is defined not by common interests or physical space, but as “a group of people who share mutual concern for one another”. It’s the difference between someone you feel you could call on for help in the event of a 3am plumbing emergency, versus “someone you technically ate pizza with” once.

Because people increasingly socialise online, there also has been an “actual erosion in social skills”. For younger people in particular, the loss of experience and opportunities throughout the pandemic has resulted in a lower appetite for social risk, he says: “They’re more comfortable texting than they are talking.”