The decline in births in Japan represents a truth social problem. According to a newspaper projection Asahi Shimbun Over the next 25 years, the Japanese country will go from a current population of 127.5 million to 97.08 million. The decline in births and the increase in life expectancy make Japan one of the oldest countries in the world together with Italy. To stem the phenomenon and encourage the population to have children, the government will allocate significant investments to matching app for “state” blind datesin style Tinder and based on artificial intelligence systems, to facilitate the meeting of singles in order to counteract the demographic collapse.
The problem of the decline in births originates in several factors: economic, cultural, demographic and social. Numerous studies have shown how the lack of sociability of young people of reproductive age is linked touse of the internet and the emergence of the phenomenon ofindividualism based on networks, which decouples social activity from physical space.
The Japanese government’s dating app for birth rates in Tokyo
The Japanese fertility rate – i.e. the average number of children per woman – is among the lowest in the world (1.36 children per woman in 2019) and is far from demographic balance (there are more elderly people than new born).
To combat the population collapse, the Japanese government has declared its commitment to adopting “unprecedented measures“. One of the strategies that aroused the most amazement was that of implementing meetings Ofmatchmakingmanaged by local prefectures with the support ofartificial intelligence.
In particular, 31 of the country’s 47 prefectures will use Big Data and artificial intelligence to arrange blind dates, matching potential partners based on their personal information registered with a marriage assistance center.
The causes of Japan’s demographic decline
Second Hikikomori Italythe collapse in births would be mainly due to decreased sexual desire in the youngest and it seems to depend on the relational difficulties of the youngest. Nowadays we often hear that new technologies they have direct and indirect effects on our relationships, favoring forms of isolation, a tendency towards individualism, a lack of social commitment and in significant relationships. And it is not at all strange that the strategy proposed by the Japanese government follows this line: today the online dating they are undoubtedly one of the main vehicles for the meeting of probable and future couples.
The relationship between social isolation and dating apps
Recent studies indicate that there is a change in the places where people meet and socialize within communities. We are moving from traditional places such as squares, bars and nightclubs towards online environments, such as dating apps. These apps are used for different reasons, in relation to the geographical and social context in which one lives and to satisfy unsatisfied individual needs, such as those linked to aggregation, identification, sexual satisfaction and personal relationships.
The concept of network-based individualismcoined by Barry Wellmanrefers to the transformation of social bonds from interpersonal relationships based on physical proximity to relationships independent of a physical location.
Changes in the social sphere (both family and work), changes in urban space (with the clear distinction between residential areas and work areas) and technological changes (in transport and communication systems) have generated a society with permeable boundariescharacterized by social interactions of a very different nature.
Various research highlights that:
- you witness one slippage from work and community ties which placed the individual in a well-defined physical and social space, to a bond that the individual can establish wherever he deems appropriate.
- the personal networks I am poorly compact
- relationships are characterized by extreme permeability: they can be built quickly and can be abandoned just as quickly.
Since social connection is no longer a scarce resource (I can constantly create it online), it is easy to stop nurturing it when it is no longer engaging or rewarding, just as it is easy to develop new ones thanks to the sociality made possible by technology.
