Many people who never could afford to call international family now speak and see each other daily. I also disagree that technology has made anyone more self-centered, but disagreeing with Socratic proclamations is as old as society itself.
I saw a very interesting video of Michael Jackson filming himself in a mirror with one of the first handheld cameras. What was interesting about the video is that he's filming himself in the mirror and the first thing he says is "I'm not a narcissist." At the time, it was considered very narcissistic to film yourself, even for one of the world's biggest pop stars. When photos had limited distribution, their purpose was to remember what you had done in the past. Now, the purpose of photos is more to show off to others, so it's become the norm to include yourself in photos. I think it's fair to call this phenomenon self-centered in nature.
Calling international for ‘free’ happened before social media; it was not as widespread but that would’ve eventually have happened without social media as the tech and products were already there quite some time before. I think we thank the mass uptake to smartphones more than social media.
>I also disagree that technology has made anyone more self-centered...
Emphasis mine, as a reminder to be careful with absolutes. It's a bit of a stretch to suggest that nobody has become more self-centered due to social media.
