Gen Z’s Vibrant At-Home Social Life

• Craving In-Person Time: In 2024, 80% of global Gen Zers said they’d felt lonely at some point during the previous 12 months (GWI, 2025). According to some, Gen Z’s loneliness is due to social media, while others point to remote work. Trying to alleviate their sense of isolation, young people are planning in-person get-togethers. In China, 90% of 18- to 27-year-olds prioritised time with friends in 2024 (Sixth Tone, 2024), whereas 84% of American Gen Zers value belonging to a community (Tumblr, 2024).
  
  
• The Domestic Café: Gen Zers are organising at-home coffee shops to host friends at weekends, creating space to socialise at length with a rotating friend group. On TikTok, young people show how they arrange their home cafés by creating their own branding and menus, baking pastries and brewing coffee to enjoy with friends. See Exploring New Coffee Culture for more.
  
  
• Social Co-Working: Some Gen Zers plan at-home co-working sessions with friends in lieu of working at home alone. Working remotely with friends may address the loneliness many young people experience at work. Notably, this loneliness can happen whether the work is in-person, hybrid or remote, depending on how much their employer stimulates social interaction.
  
  
• Private Speed Dating: Fuelled by dating app fatigue and the desire to meet love interests offline, young singletons are organising flirting parties (singles-only house parties) and dating dinners (where singles test their connection over a meal). Also, see Internet Trends 101: New Romance.
  
  
• Getting Involved: Brands should support young people by facilitating these at-home get-togethers. Think services that deliver at-home café kits (including coffee beans, pastries and cups) or modular kitchen furniture that accommodates hospitality-style arrangements.

For more on Gen Z’s friendships, see our upcoming Future Consumer Life Cycle 26/27, publishing on March 31.