Axios: America’s meetup explosion

America’s meetup explosion
 
Illustration of a bunch of navigation icons exploding out from the center of the image.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
 
Young people raised on swiping, DMing and streaming are doing something bold: going out, Axios’ Carly Mallenbaum writes.

Why it matters: Amid a loneliness epidemic, millennials and Gen Zers are craving real-life connection — enough to show up for meetups around activities once considered solitary or “grandma hobbies.”

🦜 The latest: They’re leaving the house to play chessbirdwatch and read in silence together.

“It’s very easy to sit inside and rot just by yourself,” Cole Robinson, president of the Audubon on Campus Trinity University chapter, tells Axios San Antonio.

But activities like birding can help you “feel a little less lonely,” the 20-year-old says.

“Soft socializing” experiences — where you’re with other people but networking isn’t the focus — have taken off, Eventbrite found.A horizontal bar chart showing the percentage increase in social meetup events with matchmaking undertones from January to June 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. Trivia nights saw a rise of 403%, followed by Mahjong gatherings at 235% and birdwatching meetups at 131%. Other categories include plant swaps at 117%, while Pilates socials increased by 84% and pottery and craft circles rose by 38%.Data: Eventbrite. (U.S. Eventbrite data for in-person, publicly listed events that include connection-oriented language in their descriptions.) Chart: Brad Jennings/Axios

💗 The trend extends to finding love, too. Americans are seeking romantic connection at so-called “meet-cute” events — settings meant to spark a sweet “How’d you meet?” story, away from apps.

The meetups can revolve around trivia, PowerPoint presentationscrafts and even exercise.

Dinner parties with strangers have gained traction among singles.

Axios just launched our own dinner series, bringing readers together through the new Axios Social Club starting in Charlotte, Chicago, Kansas City and San Antonio.

“Everybody’s been stuck behind their phones for the past two decades, and it’s not good for humanity,” writer Stuart Schuffman — who recently launched an IRL dinner club for his Broke-Ass Stuart readers — tells Axios San Francisco.

People “want more connection and less doomscrolling,” he says.Share this story … Subscribe to Axios Local, now in 41 cities.
Unknown's avatar

About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a comment