We are drifting into a new era of friendship — and no, that isn't me being dramatic. The truth is, we have never been this connected and this lonely at the same time. We have got 24/7 access to people across the world, yet somehow very little of it feels properly intimate. Our contacts list — or, let’s be honest, our Instagram following — keeps growing, but remembering someone’s birthday? Only if they have posted about it first.

Still, we adjust. And out of that, something shifts. The idea of smaller circles starts to feel less like a choice and more like a need. We are craving belonging — something a bit more real, a bit more ours. And somehow, we find it again, often in those in-between spaces — the so-called third places.

Disclaimer: This material was first published in the special print issue of The Sandy Times Newspaper, created for House of Porsche. This digital version has been adapted for online publication.

It is difficult to pinpoint when this underlying sense of loneliness began — whether it was something we gradually built ourselves, or something that quietly settled in over time. Either way, it is no longer abstract. It is felt.

There was COVID, which disrupted even the most basic forms of human connection and left a lasting trace — one that the World Health Organization now describes as a “global public health concern” in the post-pandemic world.

At the same time, communication shifted online, pulling real conversations into the screen. And we changed with it. As we grew older, the need for something deeper began to replace the ease of casual, surface-level interaction — often shaped by what “value” a person could bring.

All of this has gradually reshaped how we perceive friendship — and the data reflects that shift. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, time spent socialising has dropped by around 20% since the early 2000s.

There is that overused idea that every dark night ends with a sunrise. Cliché, but not entirely wrong. Because something did shift. People began stepping away from large, undefined social circles — the kind filled with half-known names and loose connections — and moved towards something smaller and more intentional.

This shift brings back the idea of third places — a term introduced by Ray Oldenburg to describe spaces outside of home and work where connection happens informally, but consistently. In many ways, it is a return to something we have been missing.

Running clubs, dance studios, DJ circles — even certain cafés that seem to “select” their crowd without ever saying it out loud — all exist within this space. They don’t openly declare themselves as communities, yet the moment you step in, that is exactly what you feel.

More than that, people are willing to invest in it — both physically and emotionally. Membership fees, early wake-ups, late nights. Not for the sport, the music, or the coffee alone, but for the connection that forms around it.

Naturally, brands have picked up on this shift. Strava is probably the clearest example — evolving from a performance tool into a platform built around connection. One number says it all: there are over a million running clubs on Strava (just running!) created by users themselves to work out, compete, and, more importantly, to belong.

But beyond the scale of platforms, the same dynamic plays out in smaller, more human ways — for example, in simple local running clubs, where what starts as a routine quickly becomes something more.

Connection brings us in. Belonging makes us stay. And then something more begins.

It may sound simple, but it is fundamental. Research consistently shows that people with strong, close social circles report lower levels of loneliness and anxiety.

In smaller circles, relationships build over time. With time comes trust — and with trust comes access. Conversations turn into collaborations, introductions, sometimes even careers.

And maybe that is the point.

Small circles don’t just connect people. They create the conditions for something to happen — emotionally, creatively and, of course, professionally.