An offline social group for the terminally online

idk mayb not,itll be a bubble, theyll still be the same weird obnoxious chronically online people,just in person with other people like them

The idea would be that they would be more able to spend time offline if they had an offline support network of people in a similar position.

I think this is a projection of my own desires because I want to socialise more offline and spend less time on mainstream social media but feel unable to because that's become the "normal" way of socialising in the 2020's. I want to talk to someone on the phone now and then, go out and do more things.

Part of the problem for me is working from home, I think.

People just need reasons to go out and not be online for any reason. Adults aren't suppose to have friends or have the time to hang out, that's why the only ones you ever see online are either jobless or mentally unwell 

I'm not jobless per-se, but it's mostly work from home. That's the tough part. The other things that got me out mostly moved onto Zoom during Covid and are only just starting to host events offline again.

I think that saying that adults aren't supposed to have friends is a bit of a sweeping statement. It's harder to make new ones because of responsibilities, of course, but not impossible, nor should it be. This offline social group wouldn't be something hosted at someone's house, either. It would be more like a support group of sorts, with occasional outings thrown in.

This article cites a survey in which 49% of respondents have three or fewer close friends. That surely implies that 51% have more than three. Does that mean that potentially 51% of the American population is unemployed and/or mentally unwell? Unlikely. The unemployment rate in the United States in 2021, the same year that the survey was published, was 5.3%.

But in the case of those who are unemployed, or severely socially anxious and so on, such a group could function as an important stepping stone. That would be a reason to go out.

I've made two good offline friends as an adult and while we obviously don't have the time to hang out as much as teenagers would, it's nonetheless had a tremendous impact on my mood and wellbeing. That's another thing - people tend to conflate loneliness with FOMO. Just because you're lonely, doesn't mean that you suddenly want to do things that didn't interest you as a teenager and that wouldn't interest you if you weren't lonely. Going to house parties, for example, and being as drunk and hedonistic as possible, is not an absolute necessity for connection. It's about conversations. More specifically, reciprocal disclosure. Good conversations can facilitate speedrunning a connection - the 36 questions are a famous example of that.

I just feel mostly concerned with the fact the majority of people hate meeting other people, they already have friends they made as kids so they're not going to put aside their personal time to entertain a random stranger. I can see this just trying to be nice and helpful but I am worried about it creating the delusion people can just go out and talk or befriend any person they want, when the majority of people will be upset or hostile towards anyone doing that.

That's why the group would exist for them to do that to each other instead of random strangers, and it would be structured rather than being random, spontaneous small talk.