I remember in the 70s and 80s people on buses and subways reading magazines and newspapers. The idea that electronic devices have ushered in some age where humans want to interact with each other less is a myth I think.

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Hoodedcrow 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Also "Father hiding behind his newspaper at the dinner table" has been a meme since forever.

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garrickvanburen 16 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There seems to be an overall, “I’m just now aware of this phenomenon, technology must be to blame” when the phenomenon has stayed constant and the tech has shifted under it.

#moraloutrage

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watwut 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The other related phenomenon is "I dont believe culture and society can change, so I pick something I am vaguely aware of existing in the past. The people who are old enough to be there know the comparison makes no sense, but it allow me to stop the discussion about change".

Like, there was some reading of newspapers and magazines, but not that much. They were large, you know. Most people stared silently out of the window. Multiple people reading newspapers on the bus would be rare occurrence. And it was NOT noisy unlike tiktok video.

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nozzlegear 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Did nobody read TFA?

> Americans are speaking less and less to one another. The number of spoken words uttered by the average person fell by 28% between 2005 and 2019.

	▲	wolvoleo 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Doesn't mean they communicate less. A lot of phone conversations have pivoted to text/whatsapp.