This is a microcosm yes, but I think a darker one of how the complexity of society has increased without a corresponding increase in coordination to manage it.

You can think of there being interaction and coordination graphs with the same nodes. Both are getting bigger (more nodes) and denser (more edges). But the interaction one is getting denser faster.

tl:dr 50/100 years ago it would have been harder to talk to the fisherman, but also way less trash in the ocean to ask about.