Another look at the growing hookup culture, by Aderemi Ogunpitan

Let’s talk about it! Hookup culture isn’t just for the youngish 18–30-year-olds anymore. It has seeped into the wider society people in their 30s, 40s, and even 50s are getting into the vibe.

What began as a youth trend is now reshaping relationships across generations. You see it in the way people talk about “keeping their options open,” in the casual attitude towards commitment, and in the ease with which many walk away from relationships that once required patience, forgiveness, and real emotional investment.

For older adults, the effects run even deeper. Many grew up with traditional ideas of loyalty and partnership, but they now live in a world where temptation is only one message, one DM, one “are you up?” away. Social media reconnects old flames, creates new distractions, and makes secrecy too easy. Technology has turned infidelity into something that doesn’t require courage only curiosity and opportunity.

This cultural shift is playing a quiet but powerful role in rising divorce rates. When people internalise the idea that they always have “options,” the patience to work through difficulties weakens. Instead of repairing the cracks in their marriages, many are pulled toward the thrill of something new, something effortless, something that doesn’t demand vulnerability. Hookup culture conditions people to escape discomfort, not grow through it.

It also damages emotional discipline. A person who has become used to short-term pleasure often struggles with long-term responsibility.

Marriage requires consistency, sacrifice, communication, the very things hookup culture erodes. As a result, couples are breaking under pressures that earlier generations might have weathered, not because today’s people love less, but because the culture around them encourages less resilience.

All of this leaves behind a trail of emotional wreckage: children caught in the middle, adults questioning their worth, and communities slowly losing faith in the stability of family life.

Hookup culture is not just a youthful experiment anymore. It has become a societal current, and unless people walk back toward emotional depth, patience, and responsibility, it will destroy the substance of healthy relationships that are meant to hold society together.