Total IRL Live

Social events are the new social media. In real life seems to be back in demand. Even the technocrats are taking note.

LA Tech week was jam packed with people this week. Even the tech companies hosted tons of in person events. Why didn't we all just login to Clubhouse and talk to one another instead? Or watch the video live-stream?

Because that era is washed.

Even the technocrats know it.

Looking forward at my calendar for 2026 it is becoming jam packed with tons of real events and real connection invitations to my email inbox. And this poses a big problem for the extremely online club still touting a phrase that is a misnomer.

Social first.

While users of the phrase assume social first is a marketing tactic produced for social media they've missed the real advantage of what it means. Social first or "social by design" as dubbed in the book Disruptive Marketing is really about how to involve humans in the design of anything. This doesn't mean you focus on social media. This means you focus on humanity and their needs.

So social first isn't about social media. It's about social events.

Iceberg ahead.

We're now creating case studies of the disruptors being disrupted.

The battle over what the future will look like is really a pendulum swing to a remixed past. In every area, from work, to career networking, to building the future of commerce, IRL seems to be taking a big bite out of the "online index".

Research has shown us that being online staring at a screen is the new sitting. And sitting is the new smoking. In other words, doing everything from a screen point of view is not really good for you.

We don't need a lonely or alienated future. This seems to be what big tech wants to sell us to monetize our attention with ads. This doesn't mean we should rebel from digital. But we need to go beyond what it has offered us. We need to leap the stopgap known as the 2010s and enter into a truly postdigital world.

Just like we realized we don't need an unhealthy past as we smoked unfiltered Camel cigarettes by the carton, the extremely online world future pushed by internet celebrities is lonely and exhausting. And even creators are dropping out of making videos. Why are we now running in the direction of seeking human touch once again? There are a few factors.

1. Big tech is seen as a frenemy, not an empowering force. Much of the rebellion toward big social platforms is because they've hoovered up our data to train AI and algorithms. We realize we don't need them but sometimes are stuck using their solutions to drive our message. As a result, we don't really trust what they're selling us. In other words, many of us are okay with an alternative future than what we've been fed by these monstrosities.
2. We don't trust the owners of social networks. The big platforms are all owned by big corporate entities. And there is major mistrust with them. Google, Microsoft, Meta, X. Even the companies that were supposed to usher in alternatives, Snap and Bluesky, are being met with a thud.
3. You can't be AI slop at an IRL event. Human connection is becoming a big part of our future. As more AI slop takes over automated and algorithmic platforms, the quest for connection becomes the new KPI over engagement. What caused this? The social networks themselves when they pushed so hard for more automation, more digitization, that they left us cold and alienated yearning for more.
4. Collectivism is on the rise over performative individualism. Younger teens and twenty-somethings know that social media is not healthy. And thus they are doing different things online that are more about gathering in small groups and less posting about how awesome they are. Less posts that begin with, "I'm thrilled to announce" and more behind close door conversations. Even phone calls from landlines are making a reappearance.
5. Being around people is physically, mentally and emotionally good for you. Scientific fact.

So if the future is a lot like the novelty driven past, then what is really in store for us in the 2030s? How about I tell you that when we speak in person at the next social event?

;);)