A new kind of club has emerged in the Dutch city of Amsterdam — one where participants put down their devices and go offline.
Picture 200 people packed into an ornate, historical church — none of them on their phones. A young woman plays the piano, while others are crowded over three long tables, getting creative with paper, paints, coloured pencils and scissors.
The event at Amsterdam's Posthoornkerk basilica is the latest by the Offline Club, which began in 2024 as a small initiative by three students in Amsterdam.
The gathering reflects a broader trend, especially among young people, to step away from screens and connect with others and themselves.
"We create our events and gatherings with different themes, one of them is connecting with yourself through creative activities or reading or writing or puzzling, so really something that makes you slow down and reflect, go inwards," one of its co-founders, Ilya Kneppelhout, says.
"And then also more connection-focused events where you talk to others, you play board games, you go on offline walks in nature, for example, and meet people in a dynamic, natural way."
Brian Hermeljin, a 31-year-old artist, says the Offline Club has offered him a refreshing change in pace — and an avenue to disconnect and stop scrolling.
"These kinds of activities just allow me to really understand what it means to be present and also slow down in your mind because it's always going, it continues to go until you have time for yourself."
A growing offline network across Europe
Originally launched as a casual meet-up in a cafe, the club has flourished into a network of offline events across Europe.
Facilitators now organise sessions in 18 cities, and the club has built a following of around 600,000 on Instagram.
The Amsterdam session opens with a live piano performance by composer and pianist Cécile Schulte, before participants move into offline activities like crafting and writing exercises — for example, preparing a speech for their future 80th birthday.
Bernard Kappele, a 27-year-old user experience researcher, is a regular attendee.
"I think it's nice to touch that pen and paper, like that physical element, it just grounds you, I think," he says.
"And for sure, looking back, as a child, I would always be drawing and things like that. So it definitely also is a bit of an inner child, who doesn't want to be behind the screen and be online all the time."
Tickets to the Amsterdam session cost around $49, and its popularity has prompted the club to plan eight additional events in Amsterdam in April.
For 29-year-old marketing specialist Penny Steenbeek, it's the social element that draws her to the event.
"What I just really love is that you can unwind but also with other people," she says.
She finds it harder to put her phone down when she's by herself at home, but prefers to go offline with a group of people who share the "same vibe".
Nicola Cloherty, a 41-year-old consultant, says joining the Offline Club sessions reminds her of life before constant digital access.
"Being nearly 42 and having had both sides of technology and device life and not, this just returns me to a simpler way of being and the joys that I experienced as a kid."
Young people eager to reduce screen time
The growth of the Offline Club reflects a broader trend on social media, with users sharing plans to reduce or stop using these platforms in the coming years.
But Surya Gayet, assistant professor of experimental psychology at Utrecht University, says the way apps are designed makes it difficult to break habitual use.
"Those apps are developed to have you sort of stay as long as possible by having short-term rewards, right?" she says.
"So I move to the next image, and 'Oh, that's nice,' and then you have a 10-second reward rush, and then 'oh, but what's the next image?'"
The short-term rewards create a circuit that keeps users coming back for more, she explained.
Social media use has been under growing scrutiny around the world, particularly among children, as research increasingly links it to mental health risks and potential developmental harms.
Last year, in a world first, Australia banned social media for children under 16, ordering companies to take steps to detect and deactivate underage accounts.
Greece recently announced similar plans, while other countries, including France, Austria, Spain, Denmark, Indonesia and Malaysia, are also considering or pursuing restrictions.
— With additional reporting by Josie Harvey, Associated Press
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