For some people like you, theres no mental cost associated with speaking on the phone. For the rest of us, the mental barrier is huge. Imagine the amount of mental effort required to, say, pack and move your house - the dread is on the same level. Why? I don't really know. I'm very social in person.

Yeah, agreed. I'm also in plenty of Discords, yet I still recall my most meaningful online social interaction involved spending hours just chilling in a Vent server with my WoW guild.

I think this is an underappreciated feature of "grinding": it gives players a great excuse to put in time and build social bonds.