While the "things are actually better" argument is certainly true when you look at the data, from a first person perspective people have definitely become very very self absorbed in American society. Not only in the US kind you, but in the west generally there is absolutely a massive cultural malaise in play right now.

Even speaking just about culture, look at how stagnant things are. Fashion, film, music, books. They are all stuck on repeat, making the same old things new again with no actual innovation happening on noticeable scales.