In our hyperconnected world, having the ability to fully disconnect has become something of a luxury, Business Insider says, and a handful of startups are cashing in.
With everything from work to our social lives and hobbies involving some sort of screen, many are experiencing digital fatigue and looking for ways to unplug. Some 53% of Americans reported wanting to cut down on screen time this year, according to a survey by data management firm Harmony Healthcare IT. By shifting their focus from the digital world to the physical, these startups are making it easier to do just that.
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Sofar Sounds
Sofar Sounds hosts concerts by emerging artists at unique locations that aren't disclosed until shortly before the events begin. The shows were meant to help music lovers find new artists without the use of an algorithm, but it turns out that many attendees are actually using them as ways to find love.
“We didn’t set out intending to be necessarily a singles thing,” Sofar CEO Warren Webster told BI, but the demand was there. So around a year ago, the company started hosting concerts designed specifically for singles to meet.
The singles concerts are “just indicative of the moment that we’re in,” Webster said. Many people are just as eager to develop connections as they are to find new favorite artists, which has played a hand in making Sofar's in-person hangs so successful, according to BI.
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Offline
Offline founder Andrew Roth has noticed similar feelings among his audience. Offline is a platform that connects real-world, interest-based communities with brands, creating places where people can connect in real life, and brands, which help sponsor and facilitate these meet-ups, can connect with prospective customers.
“Going offline for a week is now the biggest investment you can do and the most luxurious thing you can do, because you can, because it’s an active choice you’re able to make,” Roth told BI.
Stepping away from the screen “ends up transitioning into a more culturally wide opportunity in terms of accessing that quote-un-quote luxury,” he continued. “That’s what [Offline's] communities are trying to do is create more of the access for that in different ways that don’t require you to take a one-week vacation to Hawaii.”
Kanso
Kanso takes connecting in person a step further. The company hosts physical gatherings where ticket-holding attendees lock their phones up and spend a few hours meeting new people and strengthening existing friendships.
Founder Randy Ginsburg told BI that instead of focusing on the negatives of excessive screentime, the startup provides positive alternatives to doomscrolling and helps attendees "meet people worth putting your phone down for.”
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The digital detox Kanso provides is similar to other health-focused lifestyle choices people make, Ginsburg says, both in the intentionality and level of privilege it requires.
"People require various degrees of education, accountability, and support to put [healthy] practices into their lives,” Ginsburg told BI. “I think the same thing is very much true of our relationship with technology and our phones.”
Timeleft
For others, these startups aren't tools for living a healthier life, but ways to find ever-shrinking third places. Timeleft, an app that connects groups of strangers for dinner, was designed as a type of third place.
To join, users pay a $19.99 subscription fee as well as the cost of their dinner. The fee helps with the feeling that “these people are all open to making a new friend," Timeleft user Yumi Temple told BI. "They’re prepared to put the energy and time in to make that work.”
For Temple, the app has been invaluable in expanding her social life. "Our generation has so many fewer institutions than previous ones,” she said. “I don’t necessarily think in person as the meeting point or introduction to another person is more special, I think it’s just about whatever the catalyzing thing that had you to meet.”
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