In 1994, if you had said that CNN and cable news would be upstaged and made mostly irrelevant by an alternate form of "talk radio" called podcasts (which didn't exist in 1995), people would call you a fool. Yet here we are in 2024.
In 1994 there are a dozen plus other things that if you compare then to now, show a "sea change". There are plenty. Name a few in your head, even if you don't reply.
The people who say "nothing ever happens" don't have the level of self refection to realize that something is ALWAYS happening. They are unable to alter there perspective. What they learned in 1994 must remain true in 2024 or it puts their very concept of "self" at risk. This is why scientific progress happens one funeral at a time.
You might be onto something. People are oblivious to the fact that most of them are hopelessly addicted to their phones and social media. Phone checking is so normalized these days, most people don't realize that, no, checking your phone every five minutes and always keeping it within reach is not normal any way you try to justify it.
Also, it's quite refreshing to understand that only some 10 years ago most of that was not a thing. Yes, yes, only 10 or so years ago was when people started to get smartphones en masse and even then it was not immediately they all got addicted. So, basically there is a very strong correlation between mass smartphone (as well as social media) use and society going literally insane.
That said, I don't think any of that is being coincidental. This is not some grand progress or natural change. This is being done deliberately in order to achieve certain goals.