In a cozy Amsterdam cafe, with plush sofas and warm lighting, a group of people sit talking, laughing and playing board games. But something notable is missing. There is not a single phone in sight. It’s one of a regular series of community events held by the burgeoning Offline Club, where members pay about $8.00 to leave their phone in a lockbox at the door and spend the next few hours unplugged. Demand is growing rapidly. What started as a local initiative is quickly becoming a global movement with regular events hosted in cafes, churches and town halls selling out quickly across the UK, Denmark and the Netherlands.
2025 marks the tipping point when people will look to spend less time in front of screens and regain meaningful in-person connections.
Yondr, founded in the US, partners with comedy clubs, stadiums, clubs and schools to host phone-free events. Jack White, Bob Dylan, Garth Brooks, John Mayer, Madonna and Adele have all implemented cell phone bans at their concerts to help them stop staring at a sea of blinking smartphones and to help audiences connect by going offline.
Meetup, the global platform that allows more than 60 million people to use the Internet to obtain off The Internet and meeting in the real world, saw a 19 percent increase in registrations in 2023. The latest Meetup Measurement Report showed that the main reason people use the platform is to find meaningful in-person connections, an increase 50 percent compared to previous years. . “Friends” is the most popular search term for events and “Book Club” is back in the top 10.
We are achieving things that unite us again to the social fabric of local life. According to new research carried out in the United Kingdom by the National Lottery Community FundHalf of UK adults intend to take part in local volunteering activities, both formally and informally by 2024. More than 70 per cent say it is important for them to feel part of their local community.
The growing demand for real-world interactions arises from a confluence of societal challenges, namely growing awareness of the adverse effects of too much screen time and the loneliness epidemic. Recent Gallup research showed that 80 percent of young people under 18 say they are lonely, and 22 percent say they have no real friends. Zero. Twelve percent of adults admitted to having no close friends in 2021, compared to just three percent 30 years ago. In these statistics there is a collective cry of loneliness. People no longer just want followers; They want real friendships.
But 2025 could mark the turning point of this deep recession in friendship. It’s the year in which an increasing number of people trade screen time for real-world interactions.