What is social rewilding and why does it matter?
It’s hard to remember a time when we didn’t live in a digital age.
A time when our days weren’t spent glued to a screen.
Today, we use our phones, tablets and computers to date, socialise, connect, shop, bank, study, research and more besides. Digital technologies are an integral part of all aspects of human life.
But according to research by Accenture Song - Accenture Life Trends 2025, there’s a trend towards ‘Social Rewilding’ - a movement where individuals are seeking an antidote to too much digital connectivity.
How much time do we spend online / using digital technologies in the UK?
Online Nation research by OFCOM in May 2024 reported that UK adults spent an average of 4 hours 20 minutes a day online, across smartphones, tablets and computers.
Young adults spent the most time online, with 18-24-year-olds averaging 6 hours 1 minute online per day. Adults aged 65+ spent the least time online (3 hours 10 minutes).
Women spent more time online than men across all adult age groups, averaging 4 hours 36 minutes per day. A full 33 minutes more than men.
The difference was highest among ‘Gen Z’ women aged 18-24, who spent more than an hour longer online than their male counterparts (6 hours 36 minutes vs 5 hours 28 minutes).
Where do we spend our time online?
The OFCOM research highlighted that 48% of the time UK adults spend online is on services owned by Alphabet, e.g. Google, YouTube, Waze, Fitbit and on Meta, e.g. Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Threads etc.
UK adults spent an average of 2 hours 4 minutes a day on Alphabet or Meta platforms.
99% of all UK adults use Google and 94% visit YouTube, spending an average of 47 minutes a day on it.
Meta is the second highest reaching organisation (96%). 70% (33 million) of UK online adults visited all top three Meta-owned platforms – Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.
Although Facebook and Messenger was Meta’s highest-reaching service among adults (91%), there’s a significant difference in the time spent on it by adult age groups. Facebook users aged 18-24 are the least engaged with the service, spending an average of 15 minutes a day.
So what is social rewilding?
The Accenture Song research confirms that people are not wholly rejecting technology, but are seeking depth, increased ‘authenticity’ and sensory richness in their personal experiences.
Social rewilding is the process of reconnecting socially in the real world often around nature. It is the act of intentionally re-balancing and reducing technology’s role in the moments where people find joy and well-being.
The report talks about how it has been a fringe trend for some time, but has become a much bigger movement. Globally, people are increasingly embracing experiences that reconnect them with nature and create physical connections with their surroundings and other people.
As Accenture put it in the report:
”We’re on the cusp of a cultural movement that sees people rebalancing their relationship with the physical world. Social rewilding is prompted by the fatigue of a digital-first lifestyle and characterized as an intentional shift toward a more balanced and simplified existence.”
What are the forces driving social rewilding?
Nostalgia for a pre-digital era and a different way of life is a key driver of social rewilding.
Digital natives are curious about a time before smartphones when concerts and clubbing were experienced and enjoyed in the moment. Some long for a time lived without technology to ‘make memories’, to stop disconnecting from reality through technology. Many long for real world connections in physical spaces.
Older people feel nostalgia for the ritual of discovering and listening to physical music in record stores, or the anticipation of taking, waiting, developing and sharing physical photos in a time before digital cameras or smart phones.
Another force is the growing number of people who are more environmentally conscious.
As well as wishing to protect the environment, they value spending time in nature for improving mental well-being, creativity, physical health and longevity.
There has been a worldwide surge of interest in pursuing more textured and enriching hobbies to support well-being and mental health. Singing, dancing, gardening, hand-crafting, pottery and other hobbies where it’s impossible to look at a screen are more popular today than ever.
Technology isn’t being totally rejected. After all, you’ll need to look at Google Maps to get to that singing class or choir session and plant identification has been made significantly easier by apps like PictureThis. But more and more of us are placing phones firmly in pockets whilst connecting with people and experiences in the physical world.
Why does this matter?
For brands and organisations who have been focusing on creating seamless digital experiences, capturing digital attention and meeting audiences in digital spaces, it’s time to consider whether this consumer habit is a temporary blip in our digital connectivity, or a long term rebalancing of technology use in our daily lives.
Brands should seek out non-digital ways to authentically connect with customers in the moments when they’re looking for textural, face-to-face experiences.
And this is where community strategy can play hard.
Digital connections will continue to be extremely important. But providing physical experiences and spaces for people to meet, connect, find joy and express themselves as part of a community will be more important than ever.
The report also highlights the importance of ‘going local’:
”Brands can build affinity by sensitively connecting with local cultures—without stooping to stereotypes—and highlighting the texture and nuance of specific cities and regions in events, content, advertising and experiences.”
And finally, any business who has not taken sustainability seriously and hasn’t accelerated their Net Zero and Nature and biodiversity strategies will see more ‘consumers’ question their value and their place in the world.
As more people wish to enjoy nature and preserve it for themselves and others, those who pursue profit over planet will be singled out. Brands with sustainability and regeneration at their heart will be both praised and purchased.
For more details and to see all five life trends for 2025 covered - cost of hesitations, the parent trap, impatience economy, the dignity of work and social rewilding - check the full report.
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Photo by Michelle Goodall ©
