Metadata
- Author: Dazed
- Full Title:: Are We Caught in a Culture of Never-Ending Catch-Ups?
- Category:: 🗞️Articles
- URL:: https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/68983/1/so-excited-to-catch-up-culture-friendship-recaps-friends?amp=1
- Read date:: 2025-11-14
Highlights
After entering the workforce, it can feel like everyone you care about is living their lives alongside their co-workers and partners, and then working hard to find a time to simply keep you in the loop. This trap is what people are calling “catch-up culture”. (View Highlight)
“Your life is only ever since your last catch-up, and you aren’t talking about the bigger things in life, like your future, or the menial day-to-day.” (View Highlight)
the process of drifting apart is most noticeable between the ages of 25 to 30. Now in her 30s, Orr not only sees her friends less, but how they engage with each other is different; with a limited time for deep connection, she refers to the dynamic as a “maintenance check”. (View Highlight)
“It feels like checking in to make sure we’re still friends, instead of doing the work to be in a committed relationship (View Highlight)
says. “I miss going to the grocery store, getting a wax or doing a workout class together, which were little times we would connect and chat on the train on the way there.” (View Highlight)
actively working to break free from: scheduling activities with her close friends instead of dinners to create new memories together. (View Highlight)
also recommends sharing short voice notes, stories, thoughts, articles, podcasts or memes throughout the week to foster genuine connections and avoid communication monotony. (View Highlight)
This can include, according to Bronstein, watching thought-provoking movies, participating in workshops or card games, or even attending a music festival. “It all boils down to living and sharing experiences and emotions,” she says. “When we experience something together, it boosts our empathy and the so-called ‘happy hormones’: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins, as well as strengthening social support.” When we don’t share these positive bonding experiences, it can lead to feelings of isolation. (View Highlight)
The paradox of attempting to break out of catch-up culture by scheduling activities weeks prior is that it, once again, can feel like work. (View Highlight)
often out and about at events, which could give the appearance to some of a robust social life, but even those brief interactions become catch-ups. “It’s genuinely nice to see people, but it feels like certain relationships can be confined to like the four walls of a club or of like a nightlife space (View Highlight)
It’s only after the big catch-up, once the major updates have settled, that we get into the minutia of actually intimate conversations. (View Highlight)