We Are Living in the Anti-Social Century: Experiential Is the Antidote
The year is 2025, the same year a fictional Theodore Twombly fell for his virtual assistant in Spike Jonze’s sci-fi romance “Her.” While technology connects the world more than ever, we (like Twombly) have never been more disconnected.
“Americans are spending less time with other people than in any other period for which we have trustworthy data, going back to 1965,” Derek Thompson writes for the Atlantic in “The Anti-Social Century.” We eat alone, shop alone, work from home alone and watch movies alone — and what’s more we choose to do so. Our solitude is self-imposed. As a nation, we celebrate canceled plans and embrace “bed rotting.”
If you’re unfamiliar, the term, coined (naturally) by TikTok, is the practice of staying home, in bed and being unproductive, most likely mindlessly scrolling through the social media platform that went dark for a total of 12 hours before being reinstated. Though short-lived, the ban had many of us considering what a world without TikTok would look like. While content creators gnashed their proverbial teeth, others (myself included) felt an ever-so-brief sense of relief.
Because, perhaps more than any other platform, TikTok is the epitome of passive entertainment and the addiction economy. It sucks us into an endless buffet of low-quality, dopamine-spiking content that maximizes engagement, not enrichment—by design. It thrives on keeping us glued to our screens, exploiting our need for stimulation, while offering no lasting fulfillment.
Yet, amidst this era of detachment, a powerful countercurrent is taking hold.
Take Christine Rosen’s The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World, which warns of the societal cost of our dependence on digital tools and encourages us to put down our screens and reconnect with the real world. In particular, she argues that face-to-face interaction is critical. “The pleasantries that we think are expendable, inefficient, meaningless, they actually grease the wheels of our social interaction in a way that makes us able to all get along even with strangers in public space,” Rosen says in an interview for Vox.
Consider, too, the “Wait ‘Til 8th” pledge, cell phone bans in schools, Gen Z’s newfound love of shopping malls and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s prediction that in 5-10 years, there will be a premium on “human, in person, fantastic experiences.” Or just let Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour serve as a testament. From the joyful screams of 70,000 fans to the spontaneous trading of friendship bracelets, the tour offered a sense of belonging and connection that no algorithm could replicate. (Even when the Vienna concerts were cancelled.)
Thoughtful, well-executed live events remind us what it feels like to be present and to share in something bigger than ourselves. They pull us away from our screens, immerse us in the richness of real life and highlight a profound truth: Gathering is a basic human need. Live experiences satisfy our craving for connection, empathy and joy in ways that technology never can. (Need proof? Economist Enghin Atalay calculated that a 5 percent increase in alone time resulted in the same decline in happiness as a 10 percent decrease in household income.)
This isn’t to say that technology can’t deepen our engagement without isolating us from others. When used intentionally, it can enhance live events rather than detract from them. You’ve heard us wax on about the wonders of “Space Explorers: The Infinite” by XLISTERS Felix & Paul and PHI Studio; the magic of experiencing a concert in The Sphere (now a concert film showing at, you guessed it, The Sphere); and the “shared reality” of watching a game together at Cosm.
And there’s hope. The experiential industry isn’t just an alternative to the solitude of modern life, it’s the antidote. We’re not just creating events, we’re designing goose-bump inducing moments for people to reconnect with themselves, with each other and with the world around them.
A Call to Action for Experiential Professionals
As experiential professionals, we have the privilege and responsibility to create moments that counteract the disconnection of the digital age. Every concert, festival, brand activation and cultural event we design is a chance to remind people what it means to be human.
This work is about more than just profit or entertainment—it’s about building a future where live experiences are the foundation of our collective well-being. It’s about helping people feel seen, heard and connected.
So let’s keep doing it. Together. Here’s how:
- Register for XP Land to keep up on all things experiential.
- Send a note to our new editorial tip line and tell us what you are doing that is getting people to disconnect in order to reconnect.
- And stay tuned for our next XLIST — our open call for nominations is coming soon.
Are you an experiential creative, leader or innovator? Nominations are open for the XLIST — the most creative visionaries in experiential. Nominate yourself, a colleague or a collaborator now.
