It’s not for everyone, but people who don’t already have an entire life outside of work struggle to start one when the majority of your day is spent alone staring at a screen. The idea that socializing at work is a bad thing I think isolated a huge number of people who used to thrive on work relations and didn’t need a huge number of close friends outside of work to be happy.
My company is 90% remote in practice even though almost everyone lives is in the greater Boston area. It has a Monday meeting over Zoom that starts with socializing, typically discussing personal events from the weekend. This kind of conversation might help people (particularly junior employees) realize that it is possible to have a life outside of work and give some ideas about how to start it (e.g., organized bike rides).
I don’t think socializing at work is bad, but depending on it I think can be: you may not get along with your coworkers or have any common interests, and the ones you do might leave/depart anytime. you shouldn't expect or need them to reciprocate
Having a strong social life outside of work insulates you form this
