"Putnam’s trends can be assessed more contemporaneously through a simple metric: screen time, a proxy for time spent not doing community activities in person."

No it is not. There is no reason to believe that screen time is displacing social time. It could well be displacing reading novels or watching TV.

I do a lot of socialising. I make an effort. I see other people around me doing the same thing.

Here I am at a screen. I cannot remember the last novel I read from start to finish.