The "dating apocalypse" began not with the internet but the pharmacist. Effective long term contraception and anti-infectives that worked against a wide variety

The "dating apocalypse" began not with the internet but the pharmacist. Effective long term contraception and anti-infectives that worked against a wide variety of venereal diseases removed the tangible consequences of promiscuous sex. Those milestones are the real articulation in the history of dating. In the 60's there were the "happenings" where people metaphorically swiped right and left. In the 70's it was discos, the 80's had pick-up bars. I'm pretty sure Vanity Fair had long features on each of those phenomena as well. Each generation starts to mature and are pretty sure that they are the first to discover sex, which of course their parents never had, and the older generation sees "little precious" out doing their thing and the end of the world is nigh. 20 years on the youngsters are bouncing the kids on their knees and the old ones are pushing up grass and so it goes. As the Thorton Wilder said, "Once in a thousand times it's interesting".