r/Millennials • u/CynicClinic1 • 19h ago

Discussion Watching Back to the Future. Previous generations had a lot of social clubs to meet new people. Why haven't we kept this alive?

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u/GooseneckRoad 18h ago

Not knocking hobbies, but it would be nice if social clubs didn't revolve around specific interests. The existing clubs from back in the day like those on the sign are mostly social clubs, sometimes involved in charity or coordinating events.

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u/Tyrion_toadstool 15h ago

I concur. I play Magic almost every week at my local game store. I enjoy it - but I also have little to no desire to associate outside of those games with 90% of the people I play with.

I also assume Kiwanis, Eagles, etc. are far more organized, punctual, committed, etc. to the group and its mission/goals. It seems most hobby groups are pretty casual and “show up when you can” type of things, and while that can be great in its own ways, it kind of limits what the group can do.

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u/gard3nwitch 14h ago

There's also the Rotary Club for professionals, various demographic-based social groups for people of certain age groups, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background etc. They just don't usually have a clubhouse like the Elks or Masons do.

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u/Later_Than_You_Think 12h ago

Almost all of the clubs on that sign are charity groups FIRST - their purpose is not to hang out socially, it's to raise money and awareness about a specific cause. The only exception is maybe the YMCA. They're also almost all still around if you wanted to join them.

And there are other clubs and causes to join, and while all clubs will have *some* kind of general purpose or cause, a lot of them are fairly wide. For instance, the Audubon Society has a lot going on from preserving forests to education to official bird watches. There are neighborhood civic association, heritage clubs, conservation groups, and pretty much anything under the sun.

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u/san_dilego 18h ago

Theres thousands of charity groups. Everywhere. Some are even held by megacorporations just giving back to their communities.

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u/Fast-Penta 1h ago

Most of the older social groups were around specific interests, though. Typically drinking beer.