Phones Are Making Us Lonelier. Phone-Free Rooms Are Fighting Back.

Time Americans spend with other people is down more than 20% since 2003, the lowest on record (Axios via Inkl, 2026). The WHO links loneliness to more than 871,000 deaths a year, and Americans now share only about 7.9 meals a week with other people (InsideHook, 2026).

We're together, just not really

Heineken's research found 90% of Zillennials doomscroll while socialising, checking their phones around seven times a night out (HMD / Heineken, 2024). 62% check social media when out with others, and 41% of Gen Z and Millennials say phones in the air at live events frustrate them (Marketing Dive, 2024).

Research backs the feeling. Higher social media use is associated with greater perceived social isolation in young adults (Am J Prev Med, 2017), though cross-national data suggests the effect depends on who you are and why you're using it (PMC, 2023). Phones make us talk and smile less, and we consistently underestimate how good it feels to connect with a stranger (Psyche). Even dating is shifting, with screen habits eroding in-person skills (New York Post, 2023).

The escape hatch

Stanford's Dr. Anna Lembke told NPR that phones act as an escape hatch from awkward social moments, and that resisting is easier when the whole room does it together (NPR, 2026). That's why bars and restaurants across North America are going phone-free, and framing it around loneliness rather than etiquette (InsideHook).

What we've seen at our own shows

Before The Internet runs phone-free events across North America. The rule isn't "please don't use your phone." It's a pouch. A physical barrier. Once it's there, nobody has to be the person who resists, and the room changes.

DisConnect brings that barrier to dinner, date night and the rest of your week. Tap the card before the menus come out and the feeds are blocked. Getting back in means pulling out the card, in front of everyone. Nobody wants to be that person.

Sources

• 'Life needs to be more like this': Some bars and restaurants are going phone free (NPR, 2026)
• The Case for Banning Screens in Bars and Restaurants (InsideHook, 2026)
• Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S. (2017)
• Associations Between Social Media Use and Loneliness in a Cross-National Population (2023)
• Phone-free bars and restaurants on the rise across the U.S. (Axios via Inkl, 2026)
• Heineken 'Boring Mode' app encourages connection (Marketing Dive, 2024)
• Heineken and Bodega launch the Boring Phone (HMD, 2024)
• Our need for true connection is giving rise to phone-free spaces (Psyche)
• Gen Z's aversion to phone calls has created a brutal dating trend (New York Post, 2023)