The #1 NYE Activity Is...Netflix & Chill

By the time you hit your forties, New Year’s Eve stops feeling like an event and starts feeling like a negotiation. How late do I really need to stay up? How cold is it outside? And most important, where’s the remote?

A recent poll of 3,000 Americans suggests this is not a personal failing. It’s a demographic shift. The top New Year’s Eve plan in the country is staying home and watching Netflix or another streaming service. Thirty-five percent of people said binge-watching is their ideal way to ring in the new year. Going to a big party finished second at 24%, which feels about right if you remember what parties are actually like.

Another 20% said they’d rather just go to sleep and deal with the new year when it’s fully formed. Ten percent chose scrolling through social media, which is essentially doing nothing, but with more thumb movement. The remaining 11% checked out entirely, choosing “other” or “no preference,” a category that likely includes people already in sweatpants.

Add streaming and social media together, and nearly half of us believe staring at a screen is the best possible New Year’s Eve activity. That may sound bleak, but it’s also efficient. No lines. No noise. No overpriced drinks. Just a couch, a blanket, and something familiar playing in the background while midnight quietly arrives.

The most telling detail, though, is this: one in four people said they would rather visit the dentist than attend a big New Year’s Eve event. That’s not anti-social. That’s experience talking.

For a Gen X guy, it makes sense. We’ve done the countdowns. We’ve survived the parties. Now the dream is simple. Stay home. Stay comfortable. Start the year without a headache.

Happy New Year!

Doug O’Brien