Heineken launches campaign for offline meetings

Social media has been with us for more than twenty years, and has now become an integral part of our lives, and in many cases, it shapes them. According to a new study by Heineken* of 17,000 people, respondents spend an average of 5 hours and 48 minutes a day in front of their phone screens. Generation Z adults spend even more time online: members of this age group typically spend more than 6.5 hours – almost an entire working day – scrolling through their smartphones. Three out of five people in all age groups said that their screen time had increased in the past year, and nearly half of those surveyed described themselves as always being online.

All this has a very negative impact on social life: a quarter of respondents meet up with their friends in person at most once a month, and 40% communicate with others more on the phone than in real life. However, many are already clearly feeling the negative effects of the process: 62% of participants stated that although they could easily connect with anyone on their smartphone, they often feel lonely. Loneliness is most worrying among members of Generation Z: 75% of them reported the phenomenon.

The solution is obvious, and it seems that the respondents are aware of it: 79% of them said that they use their phones much less when they meet their friends, which proves that disconnecting from the online social space is much easier if we replace the time spent in the digital space with real human relationships. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed would like to plan more offline meetings, and two-thirds of respondents would like to bring back the 90s without smart devices.

The research results inspired Heineken’s new campaign, which encourages people to spend time in real communities instead of social media in the name of fighting digital overload. The popular brand has also put several international stars on the side of the good cause, such as American singer, songwriter, and Jonas Brothers frontman Joe Jonas, who campaigns for offline meetings in the new commercial.
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