I call this the first wave of Eternal September. Then you had Facebook, where all the "normies" joined the internet because of Facebook.

Then you had smartphones, people no longer needed to be home to be online.

These major events have impacted the internet greatly. I'd argue that everything and everyone being primarily on phones has impacted the web negatively since less and less people even bother using computers.

Facebook increased the interest for the average person in order to re-connect with old high school friends, then with family.

Mobile phones lowered the barrier to entry by becoming the standard gadget everyone had, and the main way people access websites and services.

I do wonder if society / the internet would be better off if we didn't all have it on our phones and would login after hours.