  In recent years, public discourse has blamed digital technologies for making
people feel "alone together," distracting us from engaging with one another,
even when we are interacting in-person. We argue that in order to design
technologies that foster and augment co-located interactions, we need to first
understand the context in which enjoyable co-located socialization takes place.
We address this gap by surveying and interviewing over 1,000 U.S.-based
participants to understand what, where, with whom, how, and why people enjoy
spending time in-person. Our findings suggest that people enjoy engaging in
everyday activities with individuals with whom they have strong social ties
because it helps enable nonverbal cues, facilitate spontaneity, support
authenticity, encourage undivided attention, and leverage the physicality of
their bodies and the environment. We conclude by providing a set of
recommendations for designers interested in creating co-located technologies
that encourage social engagement and relationship building.
