People love to say stuff like this, but the truth is these things aren't mutually exclusive. Having a big network can help lead to opportunities to connect IRL.

People love to say stuff like this, but the truth is these things aren't mutually exclusive. Having a big network can help lead to opportunities to connect IRL. That (should be) the point of social media, or a big part of it. Where it's really useful is in connecting together casual acquaintances, in a way that wasn't really possible before. If I meet someone IRL, I can friend them on Facebook, interact, see similar interests, and meet-up. Before, this was much harder. I couldn't see that this one person I had a great conversation a month ago with is really looking for people to play board games. It's easier to know that an old friend actually doesn't live that far from you now. Obviously, there are issues with this (eg. MLM), and it doesn't always happen. However, Facebook at least, is clearly a useful tool. So I don't know what people are talking about when they say "don't social media, socialize IRL". Not necessarily what you were saying, and you were addressing specific statements from OP, but I thought this needed to be pointed out.