The pandemic has changed the way we experience social situations. A particularly interesting and inconvenient social impact of the pandemic is that a lot of extroverts are reporting feeling more drained by social interaction than ever before. What gives? Is the pandemic turning extroverts into introverts?

Not exactly. We can attribute a lot of this phenomenon to an unexpected culprit: masks.

While masking up was a lifesaving thing that was absolutely worth whatever social cost they’ve imparted to us, they are likely to be a huge contributing factor to why in-person socializing can feel so draining these days, even for folks who would normally otherwise feel energized by socializing. So while we should absolutely keep masking up (masks are saving lives, after all), there may be some reason to think about the social cost of wearing masks and how to address them without giving up our masks. Here are a few reasons why.