As a DJ, I’ve seen dancefloors change a lot over the years. The biggest shift? Social media.
There was a time when people came out to a party, a wedding, a pub, or a club to completely lose themselves in the music. To sing at the top of their lungs. To throw shapes on the dancefloor that would never see the light of day outside that room. Nobody cared what they looked like. Nobody was worried about who was watching.
But now, there’s always a phone in the air. A camera pointed at the dancefloor. A Snapchat, Instagram Story, or TikTok waiting to be posted. And with that comes something you can’t see — a subtle anxiety.
Instead of being free in the moment, people are holding back. They’re aware that one silly move, one dodgy lyric, or one drunken dance could end up online for everyone to see the next morning. That little voice in the back of their heads says: “What if someone records this?”
And that’s the problem. Social media has turned parties into performances. Instead of letting go, people are self-editing. The dancefloor isn’t a place of pure freedom anymore; it’s a stage with an audience you didn’t choose.
Don’t get me wrong, I get why people want to capture memories. But there’s a big difference between a few quick photos and living the whole night through a screen. I’ve seen nights where half the crowd were too busy recording to actually join in. And when you’re looking through your camera lens, you miss the real energy of the room — the connection, the laughter, the madness that only happens when you’re fully in it.
The best parties — the ones people still talk about years later — are the ones where nobody cared about their phones. They cared about the music, the atmosphere, and each other. Those moments of pure chaos and joy don’t need a filter or a hashtag. They just need to be lived.
If I could give one bit of advice as a DJ, it’s this: when you’re out, put the phone down. Forget about the camera. Forget about social media. Lose yourself in the music. Dance like nobody’s watching — because in that moment, nobody should be.
That’s when the magic really happens. And trust me, no video will ever capture it the way you’ll remember it.
