With the coronavirus restricting most of us to the same four walls for months, we can be physically distant from people without being socially distant. This is a development of the twenty-first century. Smartphones and technology connect us to people across the world in ways that we have never before been connected, and at this time that very connection is more important than ever before. 

Technology is the thing that keeps us feeling connected as we are apart from most of our university friends. Technology is a tool that can help one person that is alone in an apartment feel like they are part of a social circle. It can be used to help an extravert, like myself, feel like they are still getting their dosage of human interaction. 

Remember, there are plenty of people that are bored out there right now. Your friends are probably as bored as you and could use someone to talk to. We suddenly have a plethora of free time on our hands and that time could be spent talking to someone or playing games with them. Most people that you call will answer and probably be more willing than ever to talk.

Last semester I wrote an article about why technology was a way that we can feel separate from the people that are physically around us. In my case, I am in the same house, interacting with the same two people every day: my parents. After a while, spending time with the same two people gets old, especially when I cannot see when this whole social distancing thing will end. 

All of this to say, I encourage everyone to use technology to connect with people in this time. Even introverts need to hear from people every once in a while. Contact that friend you made at a camp you worked at a year ago. Call a study partner that you used to sit beside in class. If there’s someone you know who lives in a retirement community, they would appreciate a call, since it may feel like to them that they are in jail since they aren’t allowed to go out.

This is a time where this tech savvy generation can use our talents to reach out to those who feel alone, connecting them to a social network. Zoom is a great place to have a virtual space to interact with others. Have you played the game called Codenames? There’s a way to play it virtually if you go to www.horsepaste.com. No really. That’s the name of the site. Get creative, you can play chess with someone on www.chess.com. You can play a game of Settlers of Catan over a video call with someone as long as both of you have the game board. These are just a few ideas that I have heard of and tried with my friends. 

There is a movie called “Pay it Forward” and I want to challenge people with something similar to the idea in the movie: Trevor, the main character in the movie, comes up with an idea to make a positive change in the world. His idea is for everyone to do three acts of kindness and to challenge those people to do three acts of kindness for others. I challenge you to do something similar. Call three people and challenge those people to call three more people. It may just make someone’s day.