Why are we calling it “social” distancing?

I don’t like the term ‘social distancing.’ Shouldn’t it be ‘physical distancing?’ In fact, I think that as we become more physically distant, it’s really important to become socially closer! Being social is not (necessarily) about being physically together. There are so many means by which to socialize that don’t involve physical proximity. Whether it’s personal or professional, this is the time to be even more social. It’s easy to not bother turning on the video camera during a call, or maybe even skip a meeting altogether, or to dispense with the pleasantries and small talk (ie, the water cooler chat), but now is the time to build new socializing habits that extend to digital/virtual environments. 

Like any other new effort, it takes extra energy and thought to start good habits, so at my firm (Taoti Creative), we’re pushing for online collaboration beyond just the nuts and bolts of doing what we do. For example, today we have a ‘best web cam photo for St. Patrick’s Day’ contest. We have social channels in Slack where people can have lunch together while chatting. We have a “Tiny Taotians” Slack channel where parents share photos and musings of their kids. There’s a “Kudos” channel where all we do is give shout outs to each other to recognize great efforts and work. There are parenting channels, tribal channels, a roof party channel, and just in case we missed something, a ‘random’ channel to catch all. It’s not just about having the channels—it’s how you use them. Doing things like saying good morning when you come online and goodbye when you leave—just like you would coming into or out of the office—goes a long way to making our virtual office feel normal and social. It’s not just about chatroom channels either. Making sure we communicate—be it by voice, video, or in writing—effectively and with the right tone and pleasantries is essentially to keeping that somewhat intangible benefit of physical office presence. 

I propose that we change the term from ‘social distancing’ to ‘physical distancing.’ And let’s promote the social aspects of our physically distant relationships! You can’t spread corona virus by being social—only be being physically close.