Marc Andreessen says remote work has ‘detonated’ the way we connect (opens in new tab)

I'm back doing office work after two years of studying and I get why people are freaking out about remote. As much as I prefer remote and hybrid work, it really is more difficult to connect to colleagues when you don't regularly see them. The mechanisms we have right now are too primitive to compensate for the loss of connectedness.

People who are complaining about how we (don't) connect are completely missing the places and ways that people do connect in the modern world. I've spent the past year connecting in person with people almost constantly. Just not with my coworkers. I spend my days in coffee shops, socializing between periods of focused work, and my evenings going out and socializing at parties, beaches and spas. A life of socializing in the office and at the bar sounds like absolute hell to me.

If you're not sure how to connect with people while working remotely, search for coworking spaces, coliving, and workations, and find an in person meetup for one of your hobbies. I often go to running groups or meet people at the gym.

Detonating old and decrepit things is often needed to make way for better things.

It's not just remote work. Single households are also 30% and rising , this was a growing trend and remote work is frankly accomodating this kind of trend to increased freedom which by necessity means more loneliness ... unless people start doing something about it. The dynamics of remote working are one-way, people leaving further from the offices, which renders offices dysfunctional. If the old ways to connect are detonated, new ones will be found.