There is a huge societal drop in party-going driven mainly by technology, pet ownership, and people spending more time with family.
Journalist Derek Thompson cited data from the American Time Use Survey published last month, showing that numbers for social gatherings are cratering.
“Between 2003 and 2024, the amount of time that Americans spent attending or hosting a social event declined by 50 percent,” Thompson’s Substack article on Wednesday read. “Almost every age group cut their party time in half in the last two decades.”
“For young people, the decline was even worse,” the story continued. “Last year, Americans aged 15-to-24 spent 70 percent less time attending or hosting parties than they did in 2003.”
This can be attributed to many things: anxiety from global unrest, the present political climate being so divided, and social media keeping us inside a perpetual bubble.
People today, especially younger ones, think interacting over social media is the same as human contact. A young man can’t even approach a woman to ask her out or talk to her anymore, because it’s increasingly assumed he should go through dating apps.
Another big contributor is probably COVID. Not only did it create an environment of fear that still lingers among certain people, but it gave society permission to keep things moving without ever leaving their houses.
Technological advances, combined with the pandemic panic, made it easy for us to get what we wanted without ever having to set foot outside. Netflix and other movie apps stream all content imaginable to our living rooms. Uber Eats and Amazon bring us medicine, clothes, food, books, and gifts with the simple click of a button.
We’re still recovering from that fog. Going outside, interacting, being social, going to church — all of it — is like lifting weights. We have to do it on a consistent basis or we lose muscle mass.
Is it a good thing that Americans are partying less than ever before?
Then the next time we try our hand at socializing we can feel weak, uncomfortable, and out of practice.
Pharmaceuticals being on the rise doesn’t help. Why go to a party when you can pop a pill and experience a euphoric bump without having to say even two words to someone?
The real question is: Are these changes good or bad?
On the one hand, saving time, money, and stress is tempting.
Dating apps aren’t all bad. Some users meet their future spouses on these sites, and working from home has opened up a whole new door for millions of people who may not have otherwise excelled. But it all comes with a price.
We are social creatures. When you take away face-to-face interactions like making someone laugh, exchanging a romantic glance, or talking about life, it destroys that sense of excitement we all need.
Technology has also slammed our brains with more content than we can handle and separated us into different rooms throughout the house. Instead of everyone gathering around the television to focus on one thing, everyone has their own device.
The Bible has several passages highlighting community and celebration.
Genesis 2:18 states: “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’” Or even the apostle Paul’s writing in 1 Timothy 5:23: “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.”
Something that we cannot compromise on, however, is church attendance. It can’t be substituted with YouTube sermons.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:20: “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there will I be also.”
So maybe it’s time for society to course correct and turn back the clock so we can once again live together in person, free from our phone screens for a while, as was always intended.
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