In an age where almost every interaction takes place through a screen, the idea of hanging up your phone and talking to a stranger seems almost revolutionary. In the United States, but increasingly in Europe, a new kind of social life is taking shape: experiential, carefully selected and freed from algorithms. It is the new concept of what some creators of such experiences call “the luxury of being offline”: the luxury of being able to disconnect from the digital environment, which is becoming saturated with impersonal relationships, algorithms and low-quality AI content, reports Business Insider and lavocedinewyork.com.
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Being offline is the new social currency, writes Business Insider.
Digital minimalism is on the rise, with some people posting less on social media and keeping more of their private lives to themselves after a decade of sharing photos of whatever they’re doing online. In a recent podcast appearance, comedian Aziz Ansari recounted how he stays away from the “chatbot” (ChatGPT): he has a flip phone and has given up email, its absence giving him “more space to think.”
He states however that he has an assistant. For those who have to pay their own electric bills and report to their bosses, giving up email and going back to a flip phone is an unlikely task. However, a movement is emerging to encourage people to ditch their phones for at least an evening, and people are turning in increasing numbers to companies that offer opportunities for face-to-face interaction.
Social media isn’t all that social anymore – TikTok, Instagram and X are full of low-quality AI content, and the newest social media apps like Sora or Meta’s Vibes stream rely on AI content. An October 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that nearly half of users believe that social media has a negative effect on those their age, with only 11% seeing it as mostly positive.
Many are starting to see that going offline for a week “is now the biggest investment you can make, and the most luxurious thing you can do, because you can afford it, because it’s an active choice you can make,” says Offline founder Andrew Roth.
The transition to offline allows for “a wider opportunity culturally in terms of accessing that luxury,” says Roth. “What these communities are trying to do is create more access in different ways that don’t involve a week’s vacation in Hawaii.”
Digital disconnect trends
One of the clearest expressions of this trend is the rise of singles-only concerts organized by Sofar Sounds, the company known for staging live shows in “secret locations” revealed only at the last minute, lavocedinewyork.com.
The company has already hosted more than 60 such events in 16 cities, bringing together around 7,000 people. The formula is simple: live music, an intimate location and some ice breaker games. The goal is not only to discover new artists, but to promote genuine human connections, real encounters, away from the dynamics of social networks and dating apps.
It’s “just an indicator of where we’re at,” says Warren Webster, Sofar’s CEO.
After more than a decade dominated by apps like Tinder, Bumble and Hinge, the digital dating world is showing signs of fatigue. Recent surveys by the Pew Research Center, an independent US think tank, show that many users have turned away from online platforms, discouraged by impersonal experiences and increasingly monetized systems. In response, new initiatives such as 222, Timeleft and Kanso have emerged, offering live, phone-free events designed as authentic experiences. At Kanso events, for example, attendees hand in their phones at the entrance: for several hours, there are no notifications – only conversations.
Kanso founder Randy Ginsburg compares the digital detox to other health-first choices like exercise or eating right. People need different degrees of education, accountability and support to make room for these practices in their lives,” says Ginsburg. “I think the same is true for our relationship with technology and our phones.”
222, an app that charges a selection fee and matches strangers for events (usually dinners), used the phrase “offline is the new luxury” on a billboard. The app has raised $3.6 million, hosted “thousands” of events and has “hundreds of thousands of members,” says Keyan Kazemian, the app’s founder, as quoted by Business Insider.
Cultural change
This trend responds to a deeper need: the desire to reclaim spaces for real, face-to-face socialization—what sociologist Ray Oldenburg once described as the “third place,” neither at home nor at work, namely informal, egalitarian contexts for spontaneous connection.
In a world where even music and romance are filtered by algorithms, rediscovering the spontaneity and randomness of human encounters has become an almost political act.
The concept of “offline as a luxury” began as a slogan, but now reflects a tangible cultural shift. Andrew Roth, founder of the Offline platform, argues that being offline has become the ultimate modern privilege—it requires time, mental freedom, and the ability to choose not to be connected all the time. In an age of forced hyper-connectivity, true exclusivity is digital silence.
Tech minimalism, less sharing, less exposure, has also become a trend.
Not everyone can afford such detachment, but her philosophy is simple: to create moments of absence to rediscover attention, curiosity and authentic presence.
