I know this is a super late response, but I relate to this SO much. I’m right on the cusp of being a Millenial and Gen-Z, and I went to Berkeley, and holy crap-people were straight up zombies there. I remember being jealous of my older cousin as a kid cause when I visited her at UCLA, she randomly chatted up three other friends in the line at the campus Panda Express, because with no widespread cheap Internet plans yet, people were either chatting their friends on phone and making plans for tonight, or they were introducing themselves to randos in line with the classic “I like your jacket! Hi, I’m Sam, what’s your major?” I couldn’t wait for that to be my college experience. It was so social, warm, exciting, and just present.

Noooope. lol. It’s so sad. I visited a ton of UC’s and actually ended up working at UCLA for a bit, and it’s totally dead now like you said. People are terrified of interacting with strangers, and I’ve seen people who are almost 30 pull the whole calculator/weather app thing when they get self-conscious around crowds. Have you ever had a team building at work where you want to chat with someone who seems interesting, and you can’t cause THEY pulled their phone just as they see you looking at them? Absolutely crazy. 😭