Crazy good piece by our friend Mr Murdoch: (real) prices of going out has increased quite a bit both in the UK and US... but we're not transferring socializing to cheaper/at-home events. We just basically stop hanging out with others.
One frequently told story is that these shifts are in large part the result of corporate greed and capitalism. The price of spending an evening in the kinds of places where people socialise — bars, pubs, restaurants, entertainment venues — has risen steeply, leading them to stay at home instead and therefore socialise less. Or the decline in reading is partly due to books becoming too expensive.
...but still, we do this:
CONSEQUENTLY:
The SUMMARY is spot-on:
Having friends over could be a 10/10 experience, but the house would need sorting out, and what if they have other plans? Scrolling and streaming may only be a 6/10 by comparison but it’s a guaranteed 6: no risk, no effort. It’s the same for reading. Getting lost in a great book is one of life’s great experiences and incredibly cheap at the price, but it demands effort.
The question is whether knowing that the decline in socialising and reading is more about convenience than affordability is reassuring. If it were just about price, we have plenty of tools for dealing with that. Asking people to perpetually fight temptation and put long-term gains above short-term pleasure has a much weaker record
Why are we so anti-social, stackers?
(...I ask, not my friends over dinner, but my internal pals over a screen. makes sense, makes sense!)
...and if you don't get the Bowling Alone reference, it's from Robert Putnam's two-decades-old book on the decline of America's communities.
Extremely frustrating. Prices rising have nothing to do with capitalism---resources are scarce and everything always has a price, whether in money or in time or some other resource. Prices were high under communism too---you just paid by waiting in line... or in the case where you just didn't have certain goods, the price was infinite.
I think their chart basically shows how it's both. Increasing quality of digital entertainment and decreasing relative prices both make people stay home more and go out less.
As to the quality point, I'd argue that it's more about horizontal match quality than vertical match quality. A lot of people think movies and games are shittier than before. But there's just so many of them, and much easier to find a niche that satisfies your particular tastes.
Another aspect of increased "quality" is the scientization of addiction that the companies use to keep you hooked on the screen
ok, but why would/is all of that making me not hang out with my friends as much? THey can just come over; we can even watch the niche, high-quality movie/screens together
Because you might not share their niche. I've heard this point brought up before too, that in the past there were so fewer entertainment products available, so people congregated around a few popular ones. But now everyone's attention is fragmented on different things, so even less reason to socialize outside your niche.
I’ve definitely noticed this with parenting. Setting up “play dates” is like pulling teeth compared to the regularity of going over to a friend’s house when I was a kid.
Underrated aspect is decline of the neighborhood. Very few of our friends actually live in walking distance, so drop in visits aren't the norm. Not sure how/why that happened.
There are plenty of other girls my daughter’s age in our neighborhood but they never get together to play.
The article you link, which says price isn't the barrier, has a price barrier, I'd like to read it, if I don't pay, is it because of convenience?
no, it's because you were too lazy (stupid?) to click the archive link I provided at the bottom. (and which I always provide at the bottom of my paywalled articles!)
in case you were just being snarky: no, again lazy. Getting an (online) FT subscription is comparatively affordable... and I suspect, in real terms, cheaper than in the past. So... go figure it out?
The archive doesn't work either
does for me (+ incognito and on different VPN). So must be a you problem?
In the meanwhile, here's a gift link from my actual subscription (that Revolut pays for, but whatever; who's counting)
https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/54f0d8c5-9e7e-4a6d-bc58-055dd9828c80
Thanks for the gift link. I'll read it and let you know what I think, it's probably my browser, and the lazy and stupid bit, well, must have caught you at a bad moment
Hehe, yea... Apologies! A little rough on my end!
I enjoyed reading the article. It's more honest than the post suggested, and I agree with the core, I think the problem is attention capture, not individual convenience.
I don't agree with everything, though, for example, talking about "digital technology" as if it were neutral, behind the scroll there are teams of engineers and an industry that makes a lot of money when you lose your time.
So I don't think you're only competing against yourself, you're also competing against a company designing for its guaranteed 6, not your effortful 10.
What I also miss is the environment, my friends come over to breathe country air, if I lived in the city, they wouldn't even come, it's not just the scroll, the design of where you live matters, a lot.
A drink at home costs 2, at the bar 10, if it were only price, we'd meet at home, but we don't, we stay alone with the scroll, so here I think the barrier isn't just the cover charge, it's the sidewalk that tells you where you can be.
Convenience or price, fine, but who captures your attention, who designs your city, and who makes money when you stay still? Very interesting, honestly, I'm even thinking about paying for a subscription to a japanese group to explain why the british don't leave the house anymore, hahah 🤠 thanks for sharing
?? Explain please?
I'm a migrant here in the Peruvian capital, and the people I know, at least, are very boring.
For them, everything revolves around their own families, and only on holidays!
And as these last three years have passed, my friendships have changed, and above all, I try, although it's difficult, to connect with others.
Inserting the orange pill into new people I meet!!