Dealing with the death of a relative/loved one is always uncomfortable and you have my sympathies Jim.

From time to time I pick a subject and do a good bit of research on it when time permits. I actually (miracle of miracles) had some time this past summer to delve into a couple things, how the young are reacting to what I see as the loss of the US empire, and how were young men in particular reacting to such a changed landscape when compared to what I experienced as a young'en. Funny thing is that both subjects ended up touching on what you brought up: digital communication and its shortcomings.

IOW the young, at least some of the ones whose work I looked at, are starting to come to the conclusion that 90% of what you see as political/social/etc. online discussions are nothing more than performative. Online demonstrations of outrage, remorse, sadness, compassion, or whatever was required to enhance prestige without the pain of actually engaging the real world and trying to deal with actual people. It was a fascinating study.

They acknowledged that building your own circle of friends, community, whatever is very difficult to do in the real world as opposed to doing it online, but they argued that it was necessary if you wanted the rewards of having an actual circle of friends who made life worth living. Notifying family of a death via social media is infinitely less painful and uncomfortable than making phone calls or visits to people who you rarely speak to or have a history of friction with... hell even with those we really love.

I don't have a brilliant insight to present or a life changing lesson to be had in all of this. But I will say you are not the only one to notice the shortcomings of using social media in lieu of actual personal contact with someone. And some of them are very young an not who you would expect to feel that way. Even this old fashioned online forum retained its occasional in person meetups and fishing trips. It has been kind of a cross between the old and new in that respect.

Will