Young People Aren't Having Sex In New York

The New York Observer has run a very interesting piece about the supposed sexless lives of twenty-something New Yorkers. According to writer Nate Freeman, people have sold their sex lives for a large following on Twitter, cocaine, and an iPhone. He writes:

Young New Yorkers no longer care about having sex. It’s not the endgame, nor even the animating force of social interaction. Men and women still get dressed up, but not for the purpose of taking off their clothes in another’s company. What used to signify desire or the desire to be desired now boils down to narcissism. How will I look on Patrick McMullan tomorrow? Or just on Facebook?

As a twenty-something whose career exists in the blogosphere, I would be lying if I said this article didn’t touch a nerve. Since I started writing full-time, I’ve started my own Twitter and seen a rise in my followers, I get emails from gay babes a few times a week congratulating me on my work and exuding some virtual flirtation, and I have more Facebook friends than I’ve ever had in my life. On paper, it would seem my social life has been enhanced, not decreased. But what has it all amounted to? Not a lot of sex, I’ll tell you that. To a certain extent, I do agree with this notion that young people are too busy fucking themselves to actually get around to fucking anyone else. With the rise in social media, people feel more connected to each other than ever, but wonder why they’re going home alone each night and ordering delivery food. “I have 3,000 people following me on Twitter. Will one of them just fuck me?” Social interactions have become so mechanical and constructed that a tender moment spent lying in bed with someone and snuggling is almost jarring. Any moments spent offline are getting to be uncomfortable, which is terrifying. That being said, will my sex life resume its usual course if I sign offline? New York City has always been a place that’s full of people who are career first, personal life second. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if people had less sex here than, say, in Iowa. After all, there’s nothing to do in Iowa besides have sex, right?

But here’s the thing. This major Blogger Boy Problem only applies to a small portion of the population. You really can’t make blanket statements like “twenty-somethings aren’t boning in New York” when it’s really just me and everyone at the New York Observer, The New York Times and any other New York-based publication. People will always want to have sex and for those who aren’t, maybe they should stop letting the Internet cockblock them, and get down to business. After reading this article, I know I am. Just give me a second to tweet about it.

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