Korean News Reports That Americans Don’t Date Because of Netflix

A Korean news site has reported that Americans aren’t dating because they’re too busy watching Netflix.

Quoting Politico Magazine, the report noted the percentage of young Americans who said they had zero sexual relationships in the past year was up to 18% in 2014-2016 compared to 7% in 2010-2012.

According to the survey, the advent of smartphones has a clear correlation with the decrease of sexual acts between young people in the past 10 years, and now other new technologies, like streaming services and instant messaging, are pushing this statistic further.

The Korean report followed Politico’s interpretation that young Americans are more interested in watching Netflix and participating in instant messaging, social media and virtual reality than in real life relationships.

News 1 said young Americans had “social atrophy” because of new technologies like Netflix.

This is backed up by a team of researchers led by American psychologist Jean Twenge from San Diego State University, who carried out a five-year follow-up study of half a million “iGens” – the generation that has been using smartphones since they were teenagers.

Research shows that the iGen generation is more familiar with and prefer indirect networking services than face-to-face contact, supporting the theory that social skills are on the decline.

“The surge in smartphone ownership coincides with the marked, recent declines in sex among young adults and teenagers. The evidence is growing that the spread of highly entertaining and diverting technology discourages in-person socializing, including – we think – one of the most fundamental forms of socializing – sex.” — Politico Magazine

Apparently, the number of daily porn users in the US has also more than doubled to 75 million in 2017 from 10 million in 2009. In other words, the Korean news site writes, young people have become too absorbed in a virtual relationship to cultivate a real one.

Japan is also experiencing a downturn in sexual relationships, marriage, and dating, leading to concerns about the falling birth rate and declining population in the country – a population that has reduced by more than 1 million in 7 years.

Politico said that, of course, no one can predict the future, but that if young Americans continue to romance their screen, America could follow in Japan’s footsteps.