Are The High-Speed Internet And Online Services Creating More Introverts Than Ever?

The baby boomers — people born 1946–1964, and Gen X — people born 1965–1980-had to go out to socialize, date, watch movies on the big screen, buy groceries, enjoy restaurant food, and find services to fix anything and everything at home. They had no choice, for they didn’t have what we have today, the internet.

I am 35, born in 1985, so I’d consider myself a veteran millennial who is also a 90s kid. Millennials-born 1981–1997-have seen both the pre-internet world and the post-internet world. That’s an experience in itself.

Back in the 90s when I was a kid, I had to go out to socialize, and to meet friends. I still remember those lovely times when I went to each friend’s home and knocked on the door to see if he was there to tell him that we were going to the playground to play cricket. Such was the time. Yes, we play a lot of cricket in India. We had no phones, very slow dial-up internet, and no WIFI.

Online services were never heard of. Mobile phones were the size of TV remotes, and both the device and the tariff were outrageously expensive.

The Gen Z kids and teens born 1998–2012-have for the most part seen only the post-internet world. Most, if not all, of them, were born with silver ‘iPhones and tablets’.

We are what we get used to. Gen Z kids have gotten used to seeing their parents and other adults sitting on their laptops, phones, and tablets. They see them ordering stuff online. They see them doing banking online. This is what they are getting used to on a daily basis. It’s changing their brains, their thought processes, and their outlook on life.

A study found 59 percent of millennials are introverted Business Chemistry types, significantly more than Gen Xers, at 46 percent, and baby boomers at 43 percent. Compared to older generations, millennials are inclined to be more restrained, quieter thinkers.

Kids and teens these days don’t have to go anywhere to find what they want. They have everything at their fingertips, a few taps and slides away. From ordering food online to dating, they can do anything and everything with their handy dandy tech toy.

Then there’s NetFlix, YT, and other internet video streamers for chilling out at home. Many young parents my age show interest in having a projector and a nice sound system at home to enhance the movie-watching experience. So there you go. There’s no need to go to the cinema halls anymore. Not to mention, we have microwavable popcorn to go with it.

Got lost? Want to find your way? Use the voice GPS on your phone. No human interaction. Feel like traveling? Book tickets and hotels online. No human interaction again.

So, the big question is ‘Are we in the process of making more introverts than ever?’ It looks like it. The 5G internet technology is soon going to take it a notch up. COVID 19, meanwhile, has facilitated everything further.

The Millennials and Gen Z are two of the most stressed-out generations. Although their tech-soaked brains are to be blamed to some extent, they are also getting exposed to an entirely new world of networking and finding jobs, and so on.

Their phones have become their guardian angels that guide them out of most problems in their lives. A life without their phones and the internet is almost unimaginable to most. Most kids these days have better phones than I have. Good for them, I guess.

I am a teacher of English. As I teach primary school kids, I tend to take them out to the playground every day to give them some playtime and physical activity. I am noticing a strange change in the last couple of years. Most kids ask me to give them phone time instead of playground time. I can only say I am shocked and sad thinking about this.

I am an introvert. I certainly enjoy sitting at home and using online services as much as I can. That’s not the point. The point here is that I see the world changing in front of my eyes. When there’s a problem to fix, look up FB for services nearby and text them up. See, there’s no need to call.

Introverts prefer texting to calling and talking. That’s what people do these days. They text. Fancy learning a new skill? Hit up Udemy, YT, or Coursera. Pay online. There’s no interaction with another human. No calling and asking for details like in the olden days. Enjoy your online course. Get smarter while sitting in the comfort of your home. See what I mean? No human-human interaction again.

Feel like meeting someone for a date or much more? No worries. Tinder’s at your service. Sit on the toilet and swipe your soulmates to your heart’s content. I’ve done it many times myself. In fact, I’ve gotten really lucky swiping on the toilet, to be honest. Right from decent dating to organizing an orgy, everything can now be arranged without human-human interaction. There you go. Grocery shopping online is another blessing. Food at your doorstep. Lovely.

Today’s kids, teens, and young adults are more brain fatigued than ever. This is owing to extended screen times, dopamine-charged brains because of too much social media times, and then there’s something called life that happens in between all this-chores, errands, and other duties, things like that.

Most are tired physically, mentally, and emotionally. All they want to do is stay at home in their PJs and unwind in different ways. The concept of the global village is gradually taking a new meaning altogether. It’s becoming a global village with global loners and introverts.

Let’s not forget most startups these days are the ‘single human-single machine’ kind. The vast majority of Millennials and Generation Z are aspiring to be freelancers, to be their own bosses, and to work when they want. They also prefer working from home and avoiding noisy office spaces with lots of people around. Just like introverts, they have started to prefer peace and quiet away from people. Most introverts are freelancers for the exact same reasons. It’s a well-known fact that people and noises are a big no-no for an introvert.

With the rapid decline in the birth rates, and increase in the divorce rates, among the Millennials and Gen Z, and choosing to live their lives in their own way, one can only expect a more virtually connected-naturally disconnected-introverted society in the days to come.

As an introvert, I welcome this. What do extroverts think about everything that’s happening? Not sure.

The loneliness of Generation Z reflects not just rising social media use but a broader decline in interactions with neighbors, co-workers and church friends.

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