Building meaningful relationships in the digital age.

Technology has become an integral part of our everyday lives and at this point, I can confidently say it’s not going anywhere. This is a great thing because of all the good that has come out of it, but have you noticed how disconnected we become with real life the more connected we are through technology?

Relationships are one of the best parts of life — you get to experience new things with the people you love and learn from them along the way. But how often do you feel like just scrolling on Instagram and interacting with their posts is mostly how you stay in touch? When did “liking” a post on social media become the new way to check in with each other? It’s easy and with our busy schedules, we love an ‘easy’ anything! But is it effective?

Trust me, I’m not here to come for you and how you keep up with the people in your life because I understand the struggle of having too much on your plate and wanting to do way more than you have the capacity to do. However, this is a conversation we should be having to inspire life outside of a phone or computer screen.

Here are 3 tips to fostering meaningful friendships, maintaining work-life-social balance, and leveraging technology for genuine communication:

Get outside and enjoy each other. Now, I know there are stipulations with this like aligning schedules or living in different cities/states and trying to visit each other. But if it’s a possibility, have some set activities for you and your friend (or friend group) every year and start a new tradition! Maybe you organize a trip every year and plan a catch-up facetime date once a month. Use technology to your advantage but don’t let it make you lazy in your relationships.
Plan in-home friend dates. There’s nothing like a good old girls night right in your living room! Great food, drinks, sweets, and amazing conversation does the soul good. Do you have an upcoming movie or show your friend group is interested in watching? Host a watch party and enjoy it together! This is an activity you would’ve done anyway, so why not use the opportunity to see each other?
Schedule monthly FaceTime calls. Look, I get it. Hopping on a plane to see your friends every once in a while may not be feasible for everyone. Especially not in this insane inflation-filled economy, okay?! With that, let’s use technology to bring us closer together and keep in touch more often. Take it back to 2020 when we were planning group happy hours and getting creative in order to maintain our sanity.