this trend is more than just internet related, it's pretty much a fact that if there's one consistant trend in society, it's usually a part of a ripple effect..the basic problem is, attention spans shorten by like 15% every generation - and instant gratification is slowley, but surely, creeping into every facet of life.(i really hope i'm not coming accross like that silly poem our bassist has in that opening song @ the show, lo)...the real gets replaced by the artificial - cause artificial takes less attention to handle - i.e. drive through fast food (they now have drive through funerals, I kid you not, this world is sick, lol) the remote control ( used to have to burn a WHOLE .32 calories to get up & change the channel, now you can just get sit on the couch and make use of your thumb)..Internet - instead of go through the motions of having to come up w/a verbal response face to face, it's a lot less of a hastle to just brain storm until you figure out what you wanna say, & then type it..the main reason for all this?..NUMBERS..everything is more, bigger, higher, than it's ever been - the amount of "needs" a man had in 1756 are literally like 1/10 of what modern "needs" are...& to accomidate these numbers, artificial means have been used to organize them (example, you wouldn't of needed "fast food" 2 century's ago, people could wait cause there wasn't big enough of a population to create a demand)