For me it's pandemic got me paranoid about getting sick and I have a family member that is immunocompromised. And conversation always devolves into politics and I get enough of that online so I am burnt out before even making plans. I don't want to implement a no politics rule because it's freedom of speech and I don't want to tread on my friend's rights if they wanna talk about it. Both reasons are why I don't visit family anymore either.
this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2025
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Politics is definitely a piece of it. Social media has placed it in front of everything. And now, given the amount of threat and violence in it, people do two things.
In most real conversations people dance around speaking about anything political, lest they reveal themselves. And they’re wholly unwilling to move forward with this other person socially until they know their politics. As such, nothing happens.
yes. i have noticed people now ask me straight up how i voted as if this is the most important thing about me, and sometimes when i say i am a democrat they get angry and tell me that i'm not because I don't 'look' like a democrat. it's super bizarre. also apart from politics i've noticed a huge uptick in people who 'know' things about me without ever asking me anything about myself.
it's super duper weird. nobody cared about defining my politics by my face shape in the 2010s. and if you contradict people's expectations they get ANGRY. they don't listen to you or apologize.
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Socialization is work that people forgot to practice. So, a lot of people became introverts and don't have the stamina to socialize like they used to.
The breakdown of culture. Culture is what unities us and gives as a framework for interaction. Our intellectual world view doesn't really recognize the importance of culture and capitalism mediates and shapes our culture now, and individualism is more in its interest. Those two things work in synergy to erode it.
Everyone else didn’t have these social media options. So, a lot more people were seeking interaction via community locations.
I think certain shared topics like religion have fallen aside too; even if you find Sky Man to be silly, it was quite often a good reason for people to gather and chat.
Increased media also means we have limited time and attention spans. We have such a ridiculous number of options for how we use our eyes, it feels wasteful to commit them to one thing, even just socializing, for a long period.
It’s not impossible to break the cycle if you recognize how everyone else also recognizes the issue. But being open with others, especially being the initiator everyone appreciates, takes practice.
tbh I have given up on being initiator because it is so draining to be around people who actively choose to be unhappy despite their life being objectively great.
like i went on a date two weeks ago with a new woman I met... she spend 45m complaining about her stocks don't doing as well as she wanted, her tennis game not being as good as she wanted, etc. it was frustrating and annoying how selfish and self-important she was. i find this experience to be very common... people are super negative and refuse to be positive about their circumstances. this person was living a life better than like 99.5% of everyone else. but seemed to think their life was a failure because they were not a billionaire or something.
This is the biggest reason
Because magazines tell you so.
Whats a magazine. I heard its like a blog but on trees?
It's something OP reads, they're totally tapped into GenZ magazine culture.
I’m fascinated. GenZ is into old school magazines? On paper?
It was like an email that you would get monthly. Someone would deliver it to your mailbox. We used to call it shrubscribe since it was made from actual plant fibers. Over time it has been changed to subscribe since it all went electronic. It's how we used to get our news as well. Weekly World News and the National Enquirer were our main sources. Sadly the internet has taken those away from us.
I’m old, I know about magazines. I was curious about Gen Z. LPs shot up in price and scarcity due to younger generations so why not this. They even display LPs like visual art.
lonely and sad people spend more money than happy people, as you need to fill the void with something. our suffering means profits to the rich.