Suddenly Everyone Is Scared to Dance at Concerts and Clubs

https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/music/new-years-eve-dancing-clubs-concerts-7e3f5f19

17•OGEnthusiast•2h ago

Comments

01HNNWZ0MV43FF•2h ago

Can't read but it's not sudden for me. I don't dance. I feel separate from most of humanity on this issue.

OGEnthusiast•2h ago

Can't find a non-paywalled link at the moment but the gist is it's because of phones and the fear of going viral on social media. Some concerts and clubs are now starting to institute phone bans at the door to create a more friendly atmosphere.

Der_Einzige•1h ago

Re: no paywalled link

Good. I was tired of us acting like we could ignore the blatant act of information being prevented from its freedom by being some caste of monks who knew about the magic words to use the internet archive to avoid it.

collingreen•6m ago

I think the chilling effect of phones is already stark in this way and we haven't hit peak bodycam-style always-on wearables every generation of tech leaders tries. When glassholes are actually here to stay this will be even worse (or maybe it will be so inevitable people won't care anymore?).

phpnode•1h ago

It’s new year, let yourself have a dance somewhere private where you can’t be judged. You might change your mind

rubatuga•1h ago

Hmmm wonder if it's due to sudden influx of ketamine on the dance floor ... warning for those who don't know, ketamine is also linked with bladder wall destruction.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/dec/30/surge-in-ket...

9rx•1h ago

In the olden days alcohol was a prerequisite to get (most) people dancing. Nowadays drinking has declined substantially, especially amongst the younger crowd who are most likely to frequent concerts and clubs.

Does the article factor that in? It won't load for me, unfortunately.

badc0ffee•1h ago

The article does not mention alcohol.

andy99•1h ago

Or maybe everyone feeling like they are being watched all the time (while simultaneously staring at their phones) is part of why people are drinking less? It’s a vicious cycle.

djmips•47m ago

and potentially recorded?

OGEnthusiast•39m ago

The hypothesis in the article is it's smartphones and people afraid of their dancing going viral on social media.

But it's interesting that you brought up declining drinking rates. I'm sure that's just as large a factor as well.

MentatOnMelange•8m ago

I think drinking is declining for the same reason as dancing... any situation involving relaxing in a social way has gone from "what do the people around me think of me?" to "how could someone make what I'm doing look stupid to get upvotes/likes on social media?"

edit: It deserves mentioning the level of drinking involved in socializing was never a good thing and I think everyone is more aware of the dangers now.

on_the_train•1h ago

My family is a family of dancers. My parents love it. My older sister danced and even taught dancing. So I was always under intense observation when it comes to that. And every hint of it was immediately commented on. Every movement to music, too. I hated it. And completely blocked all of dancing from my life. Didn't dance on graduation, not on weddings. That's just a direct and human consequence.

djoldman•1h ago

Alternate link:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/suddenly-everyo...

atmavatar•22m ago

We can dance if we want to.

We can leave your friends behind.

Because your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance,

well, they're no friends of mine.

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