This is a depressing but sadly accurate piece. I'd add we have similar challenges in the UK. To take the music scene, it used to be a hub of creativity, and I'd argue most of the best pop music in the world came from this side of the pond. That's no longer true, for the reasons you describe in this article (especially the class thing). Technology, ever the good servant and poor master, is largely responsible. That's true re: smartphones as well.

To end on a more positive note, our children (now 18 and 14) have a near pathological hatred for social media, as 1) we kept them off the internet for as long as we possibly could (they had lovely childhoods as a result), 2) we drummed into them from an early age to never put anything online that they weren't prepared to be expose to the entire world, for all eternity, and then to think twice regardless, and 3) they have seen the chaos social media has caused among their peers, and have decided they want no part of it.

Perhaps more young people will start to see social media for the addictive mental health poison that it is, and raise the next generation accordingly. If I had my way, social media would be illegal for anyone under 18, much like booze, cigarettes, etc.