After Covid, Facebook groups for outdoors (and other) hobbies in many countries boomed, as people wanted to go meet people again, and a shared activity seemed like a way. However, people commonly complain that these meetups feel much less social and more impersonal than in the past, and they don't lead to actual friendships (you won't ever meet other people outside the meetups, and possibly ever again even inside the meetups). The whole context of socialization has changed.

With regard to going and doing outdoors activities without any online group and meeting people that way, talking to total strangers on the trail (or in a restaurant, or in an art museum, etc.) has long been a taboo in some countries, and I suspect that number of countries is expanding. All in all, I share the author's pessimism here.