First, our friendships moved into the digital realm, at least some of the communication part. To ICQ, Facebook, Instagram, group chats. For a while time, that didn’t seem like a bad thing – more instant communication, easier to low-key stay in touch with people. But we’ve arrived in a world where these friendships have to compete for attention on that small black mirror in our hands with everything else that’s happening there. Social relationships and parasocial connections blend more and more.

From Weekly Filet #548, in October 2025.