I don't care

Those 3 words are said a lot online, paired with, or replaced by the synonymous "Look at all the fucks I give" which is usually rhetorical.  I don't think it's a case of people caring less however I think it's a case that we are changing what we care about.

I grew up in a small town where everyone knew everything about everyone.  There were times that I hated that, because it meant privacy was virtually non-existent.  I did notice a shift in attitudes and behaviour though between generations.  My generation and the ones that came after me were less concerned about knowing so much about other people.  They became more focused on knowing as much as they could about their friends and the people closer to them.

There is a valid argument that this could simply be due to population growth and the point reached at which it's not practical to know everything about everyone - although I would counter that with the six degrees of separation argument, however I'll put this to side for now.  My argument isn't based on that, but rather based on 2 things - technology and boredom.

The generations that came before me did not have the technology that we have today.  They weren't as connected as we are.  They still had their friends but the necessity to keep up to date on what other people were doing or where they were, was ultimately fulfilled by gossips.  That is my theory.  The people who "knew everything" and could fill you in were in essence the human precursors to using social networks or google to stalk someone and see what they are doing.  As technology has advanced that social role has become redundant to an extent.  That explains the "How" of my theory as for the "Why" element I would argue that was boredom.

The reason most people use social networks and the internet in general as far as I can see isn't really for anything productive, the majority are staving off boredom and just looking for something to do.  They are looking for entertainment in other words.  I think older generations were more inclined to find that in the lives of the people around them.  To put it bluntly they treated everyone in the town as a living breathing live soap opera.  The drama of peoples' lives became their entertainment.

I said my generation was less concerned with this and I think that to a point this is because we have "better" things to do.  By that I mean most people really don't care what's going on in others' lives.  There will still be those who enjoy the drama as there always will be but I think they are fewer and further between.

We live in a world of expanding horizons and at times that can make this planet feel small.  I may be thousands of miles away from you but you're reading my words just as easy as if I was sitting in the room next to you actually saying them.  I think we have become more focused on our interests.  In my case am I interested in what other people think of random shit on twitter - yes, because you actually form connections with people who have similar interests.  Do I care why 2 random people I've never even spoken to who happen to live in the same town got a divorce - no, I don't care.