A recent study published in Collabra: Psychology has found a notable decline in people’s motivation to stand out or be unique over the past two decades
Scary stuff.
It seems to me that the problem isn't so much a rise in online activity, but that it is replacing collapsing real world communities.
Many of us now "belong" to online groups where conformity to a set of (often arbitrary and shifting) ideals is the prerequisite for membership.
This replaces natural social groups which automatically accept each other except in the case of gross violations of well understood moral standards.
Scary stuff.
It seems to me that the problem isn't so much a rise in online activity, but that it is replacing collapsing real world communities.
Many of us now "belong" to online groups where conformity to a set of (often arbitrary and shifting) ideals is the prerequisite for membership.
This replaces natural social groups which automatically accept each other except in the case of gross violations of well understood moral standards.