Then what is the difference? Can we quantify it or is it just warm fuzzy feelings? In a discord or other similar technology you can exchange text, video, audio

Then what is the difference? Can we quantify it or is it just warm fuzzy feelings? In a discord or other similar technology you can exchange text, video, audio, screen sharing, whiteboarding, collaborative editing, etc, in virtual environment with varying group sizes. Is there something from a tangible and practical level that in person is getting you above and beyond that experience in terms of tangible skill or career growth? I mean, here we are in a world where more newly married couples meet online than offline [1], 20 years after people started getting married on World of Warcraft and we're still acting like socialization online is impossible. In terms of a learning environment, I can think of many reasons why an in-person conference is potentially less than ideal. Sitting jet-lagged in an uncomfortable conference center chairs juggling a laptop with its single 13" screen and dying battery connecting to janky public WiFi on your lap, sitting far away from a projector, with half of the interested people you're hoping to meet not able to attend at all because of cost or distance. [1] https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1908630116 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1908630116