As an older millennial I watched the seeds of this get planted in real time. I saw mobile phones come about. I remember when they'd tax you on overages for voice calls and you had night and weekend minutes in a greater pool than day time minutes.
I watched the transition to texting and I think that was key. At some point people got used to text communication and voice declined. The providers used to slam you for text messages. Then the internet and social media came about and they shifted to charging more for data and voice / text were free.
There's people who don't even talk on their phones anymore. Everything is text or social media communication. It's hilarious that these devices and the internet brought humanity together through connections in a way that was unimaginable. Yet they've created so much isolation. Even stuff like high school class reunions became unnecessary because everybody you cared about in high school you kept connected with on social media. My class of 2000 hasn't even had a class reunion. Not enough interest.
Now the chickens are coming home to roost. Generations who grew up only knowing this aren't developing traditionally. They aren't dating, they aren't having kids. Birth rates are declining and in the US it's fallen under the number for sustainability. The president is kicking around the idea of paying people $5000 to have a kid. In some countries a woman under a certain age can get tax exemption status for having children. They out here begging people to keep society going. It's funny to me.
I watched the transition to texting and I think that was key. At some point people got used to text communication and voice declined. The providers used to slam you for text messages. Then the internet and social media came about and they shifted to charging more for data and voice / text were free.
There's people who don't even talk on their phones anymore. Everything is text or social media communication. It's hilarious that these devices and the internet brought humanity together through connections in a way that was unimaginable. Yet they've created so much isolation. Even stuff like high school class reunions became unnecessary because everybody you cared about in high school you kept connected with on social media. My class of 2000 hasn't even had a class reunion. Not enough interest.
Now the chickens are coming home to roost. Generations who grew up only knowing this aren't developing traditionally. They aren't dating, they aren't having kids. Birth rates are declining and in the US it's fallen under the number for sustainability. The president is kicking around the idea of paying people $5000 to have a kid. In some countries a woman under a certain age can get tax exemption status for having children. They out here begging people to keep society going. It's funny to me.
