[cowsup]

I’m surprised they didn’t touch on the Internet as a factor. Before, dinner parties were the best way for friends to catch up and talk, and fill one another in on their lives. Everybody would gather around for hours, and talk about new things going on in their careers, their children, other friends, news, sports, you name it.

Nowadays, you can just hop onto your group chat(s) and fill everyone in on these things in real time. So, the dinner party became less of a necessity for social interaction; and the actual dinner itself was never the point. With less of a need to hang around for hours on end to catch up, it’s become more efficient to just go to a restaurant, spend an hour or so, and then leave. Nobody is left to clean up, or spend half the day preparing meals.