Netflix over a New Year's night out - when did Brits become so boring?

Almost twice as many Brits say they’d rather spend NYE with Netflix or social media than at a party, according to a national poll of 1,000 Brits by Censuswide for Sunny.

Add the further 22 per cent who plan to be asleep before midnight, and nearly two-thirds of us are skipping the party altogether this NYE in favour of our screens.

We’re evolving from social primates into screen mammals, and New Year’s Eve shows it most starkly.

Even the die-hard party demographic is wobbling. Gen Z is by far the most pro-party age group in our poll, but they, too, prefer screens. Only 35 per cent of 18–24-year-olds say they’d pick a party, while 40% would rather celebrate with Netflix or other TV streamers or on social media. Twice as many Gen Z respondents (14 per cent) said they’d choose to spend NYE scrolling as the national average.

Regionally, Greater London is the most up for a party, but still only just: merely one in four Londoners want a NYE bash. In Northern Ireland, just 15 per cent fancy a party, versus 44 per cent who’d rather stay in with streaming.

Sadly, for me, as a Brit living in America, Brits seem even more party-shy than Americans, with just 22 per cent fancying a party on NYE in the UK, compared to 24 per cent in the US. And when one in three Brits would rather go to the dentist than a NYE party – and over one in four would choose root canal work over a NYE bash – this isn’t just “I don’t like crowds”. It’s a social energy crisis.

At Sunny, we talk about our social battery: that mix of vitality (“Do I have the energy for people?”) and social self-confidence (“Will I be any good company?”). When both are low, even fun plans start to feel like threats, not treats. Our brains quietly whisper: stay home, stay safe, stay scrolling. Unfortunately, in a digital world that demands our attention every minute of every day, our social energy feels lower than ever.

This is compounded by human flaws in social forecasting – the process of predicting how social plans will feel. We tend to overestimate how effortful and draining an event will be, and underestimate how energised and connected we’ll feel afterwards. Think about it: you likely return from even a short, decent conversation feeling better than you expected.

Zoom out, and this isn’t just about one night of the year. The World Health Organisation now treats social disconnection as a significant public health issue, linked to higher risks of depression, heart disease and early death.

So, what can we do about this?

The answer isn’t to write parties off as an outdated ritual; it’s to redesign them so our social battery says yes. Instead of defaulting to a solo scroll, pick one small way to bring the party back, even if it’s a “micro-party”: two friends round, cheap snacks, a fake midnight if you want, but real conversation. If you’re already staying in, don’t spend it alone with the algorithm – turn your living room into the party, however small.

This New Year’s Eve, you don’t need a glitter cannon. You just need to back one real plan with real people and treat it as non-negotiable as your favourite show’s finale.

Your future self – and your social battery – might thank you for it on 1st January.

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Dr Iain Smith is an industrial and organisational psychologist and the Head of Behavioural Science at Sunny, a new app and social enterprise tackling the modern loneliness crisis.

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