Break out of your echo chamber: Technology arranges lunch with someone new

 On average, Americans spend 50 minutes a

a

day on Facebook. That’s a lot of online socializing. It’s also about the same amount of time workers take for their lunch break. Yet there’s not nearly as much socializing then: 65 percent of Americans eat lunch at their desk, and 45 percent report eating lunch alone, the highest rate in over 50 years. What if people spent their lunchtime connecting in person, rather than just virtually?

Modernity has not just affected our social connections at mealtimes – it has changed how we feed our minds. Many of us have been sucked in to our own “echo chambers,” with large numbers of people getting news from similarly minded Facebook friends – at least some of which is fake. Too often, the nuanced complexities of our friendships have been reduced to clever one-liners and carefully curated selfies. In this paradoxical state, we are so much more connected and alone at the same time.

https://theconversation.com/break-out-of-your-echo-chamber-technology-arranges-lunch-with-someone-new-69964