The Pandemic Shrank Our Social Circles. Letâs Keep It That Way. You donât need to rekindle your friendship with your kidâs soccer teammateâs father if you donât want to. Credit...Illustration by Diana Ejaita Ms. Murphy has written several articles about various aspects of life during the pandemic, including why Zoom is terrible, why you should stop using toilet paper and why weâre all socially awkward now. She is the author of âYouâre Not Listening.â April 23, 2021 While other people stockpiled toilet paper and dried beans last year, Sheldon Cohen prepared for the pandemic by compiling a list of family members, friends and colleagues with whom he wanted to be in regular contact during what he rightly feared would be an extended period of isolation. A professor of psychology at Carnegie-Mellon University, Dr. Cohen has spent much of his career studying the link between social ties and health, and the idea that maintaining relationships is, as he put it, âgood for you.â