In the past, network slowdowns were the work of hackers or other malicious actors. But this time, the reason for the frustration appears to be much more unsettling and banal. In the absence of any obvious spam transactions or attackers claiming responsibility, some users complained that the bitcoin network is slowing down simply because people are using it the way it’s meant to be used.
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/bitcoin-new-normal-slow-confirmation-block-size-debate
If this situation persists, it is only going to result in consensus for a higher block size (maybe 2 MB).
It might not be such a bad thing after all.