You can’t innovate away loneliness

the decline of third places means there are fewer places to just hang out and bump into each other. Other economic and social factors have surely contributed to this change, but I suspect that it’s largely due to the new third place—the one in the palm of our hands. We hang out online, which means we don’t hang out at all.

Anything a friend once did, apps do “better.” Instead of a friend picking you up from the airport, you summon an Uber. Instead of taking food to a sick friend stuck at home, they order Instacart. Even Venmo, making the exchange of money digital and therefore more “convenient,” has meant that friends’ shares of the bills languish for weeks unpaid, i... See more