Kevin has a good point.
"I would be willing to bet everyone here has someone they no longer speak with"
In my family,, decades ago,, my sister told our brother that he needed mental health treatment because he was divorcing his wife. She accused him of being whacko & all because of Vietnam. She refused to listen to his side of "why" he was getting a divorce. Over the years,, it became apparent to the rest of the family, yet she never apologized or admitted her mistake. The day she said that to him, he said to her; "If you really believe that, then we no longer need to talk to each other."
She is very narcissistic, and refuses to even consider herself wrong. To this day,, she can't understand why he doesn't want any contact with her. Even when confronted with the reason,, she doesn't believe it. She refuses to listen to anything that doesn't fit into her beliefs.
And about a year ago,, I was in the hospital, and Miss Penny let the family know what was going on. Penny told my brother & sister that she'd keep them updated. My brother wanted to talk to me,, "When I could" and was told to call on a Sunday. He respected that & did as asked. Our sister,, refused to listen to Penny. She kept saying; "I just want to hear his voice." Well, she called me when I was in the middle of something, and it was just a few hours after Penny had given her an update. I hit the answer button, and immediately cussed her out saying to leave me alone. She didn't get in a word before I hung up on her. She got to hear my voice. Not the way she wanted to. She later told Penny that I hurt her feelings. Penny told her AGAIN,, that she had not respected my wishes, AND that she refused to accept that she (Penny) would keep her informed. I haven't spoken to our sister much since, as I told her that she was the reason why.
But younger adults.
I also have a granddaughter who chose to remove herself from the family & be around her "birth-ROSIE" who is a waste of good O2. She chose a very different lifestyle,, and chose to do a no contact attitude to us. It's been 5 years now,, and she did call her Dad a few months before her step-mother died. She wanted a lunch or dinner meeting,, but refused to want her step-mother there. Her Dad refused,, because her step-mother had been a great mother figure, and done a lot for her. Then her step-mother died,, and she did come to the celebration of life service, as well as the social afterwards. But since then,, only a short text to her Dad on Christmas.
Due to her behavior, and lifestyle,, none of the family trusts her at this time. She chose the "no contact" because we all promote a Christian lifestyle, morals & values. We require work & not an entitlement attitude.
As such,, the current trend to do a "no contact" with family does seem to be more prevalent in younger adults,, but it has been going on forever. Social media seems to promote it in the younger people a lot more though.