The Pandemic Has Remade Friendship

In her article, “The Pandemic Has Remade Friendship,” Eva Hagberg reflects on how the value of intimacy evolved during lockdown. She challenges the assumption that intimacy requires physical proximity and argues instead that closeness can be cultivated across distance. The piece is part personal reflection, part cultural critique—a form of COVID-19 storytelling that documents interior transformation rather than public crisis. The pandemic prompted Hagberg to reconnect with friends she hadn’t spoken to in two decades, showing how relinquishing proximity deepened connection.

Hagberg draws on historical frameworks, noting how Enlightenment-rooted individualism reshaped our relationship to space, turning physical environments into tools for personal fulfillment rather than shared social commons. She emphasizes the intimacy of auditory presence, arguing that phone calls feel more private than video calls because “in an age of videoconferences, closeness can now be measured in how free you feel roaming about your own, private space while socializing via technology” (Hagberg). For her, isolation intensified in-person interactions when they occurred, while also revealing that intimacy could thrive without them. By documenting how the pandemic reshaped her understanding of relational space, Hagberg contributes to a broader narrative of emotional adaptation during COVID-19—offering a story of reconnection, reframing, and resilience.