I'd assume FooBarBizBazz meant my aside about the rise of the (once also fairly rare, if not so rare as second) first person narrative perspective in fiction, and increasing discomfort and difficulty with the 3rd person among younger readers. I'm not sure I'd assume this coincides with a decline in empathy, but do think it's worrisome that a huge body of literature, even recent literature, is harder for these folks to access than it was for those who grew up with 3rd person as the default and anything else being a notable stylistic choice.