Over half of clubbers think that smartphones are ruining the dancefloor experience, according to a new study.
A survey of 2000 adults in the UK in October, commissioned by Meta and conducted by Censuswide, revealed that over 50 per cent of people attending nightclubs agree that phones are ruining the dancefloor, despite 55 per cent of them admitting to using their phone while on it.
The same study found that 60 per cent of people use their phones on the dancefloor to capture themselves and their friends dancing, while 34 per cent use them to share content on social media and communicate with friends.
Additionally, 47 per cent said that it is the music itself that makes the dancefloor special, ahead of 43 per cent claiming that it is the feeling of dancing with friends and 31 per cent saying it is the experience of being lost in the moment that is the most special.
London clubbing veteran DJ Fat Tony has commented on the findings, saying: “Phones have been a blessing and a curse in my DJing life. While I love to be able to document so many special moments, their overuse has certainly ruined the vibe on many a dancefloor at the most iconic establishments.”
“Clubbing is all about energy and connection to the music, and while capturing that matters, the reality is screens take us out of the moment.”
“Preserving the magic of club culture is really important to me,” he added. “I’ve seen dancefloors from different eras and corners of the world, and one thing will never change – I always want to look out from the booth and see people truly losing themselves in the music. As we look toward a new era of clubbing, it’s exciting to think that technology once feared to kill the dancefloor might now be the thing that saves it.”
DJ Fat Tony recently held a phone-free night in London, having first introduced smartphone bans on the dancefloor nearly eight years ago.
Last year, the luxury hotel Pikes Ibiza announced that they were banning phones and cameras, following the success of their Monday night phone-free policy. “Keeping your phone in your pocket and your mind on the music – and knowing that everyone around you is doing the same – opens up a whole world of freedom, not only on the dancefloor but all around Pikes and so, we’ve decided to introduce the policy seven nights a week,” they said at the time.
The no-phone policy has been a long-standing practice in many elite clubs around Europe for several years, with London’s Fabric and Fold enforcing such a ban.
