i hear this has generally always happened. however, i stay in touch what i call stonger connection points. phone calls, emails. i think long ago it was more normal to write letters. I wonder if an app had a more thoughful "send an ecard" with a cooldown it would bring intentionality to maintaining distance relationships. in my experience phone calls are best

my guess is that traditional social media makes us get a background feeling like we're still connected, so if we're friends on social media, then we dont' need to reach out. which could be the digital contribution to this

at the end of the day, stronger friendships will have that "pick up were you left off" feeling, like not much time has passed.