Nostalgia for Something You've Never Had: Why We're Longing for Connection Offline

You know the feeling. You see a stranger across the room. There's a flicker of curiosity, maybe even a spark. You look away, then back again. But before anything can happen, the moment vanishes into the scroll of your screen.

For many of us, especially in the LGBTQIA+ community, there's a growing ache for something that’s hard to describe — a kind of romantic nostalgia. But here's the kicker: it’s not for something we lost. It’s for something we’ve never actually had.

We’re craving spontaneity. Eye contact across the bar. That unspoken electricity before the first "hello." But instead of serendipity, we get algorithms. Instead of butterflies, we get burnout.

Dating apps promised connection. And sure, they’ve made it easier to meet people we might never have encountered otherwise. But they also turned love — and even friendship — into a numbers game. Swipe, match, message, ghost, repeat. The endless buffet of options hasn’t made us feel full. It’s made us feel lonelier.

This nostalgia for an imagined past is real. Young people — many of whom have only ever dated online — are now idealising romance that happens by chance. They want meet-cutes. Run-ins. Shared glances that spark something. There’s a longing for the feeling of connection before it’s been curated, filtered, and categorised.

But let’s not romanticise the past too much. The truth is, most relationships have always started through community. Friends of friends. Clubs. Gyms. Volunteering. Uni classes. Shared interests. Not random encounters with strangers in the wild. The real issue isn’t that we’ve forgotten how to flirt — it’s that we’ve lost the spaces that allow us to connect naturally.

And that’s where Get Out comes in.

We’re not trying to build an app that replaces your social life. We’re creating tools that help you connect within your real life. Want to find a walking group, a book club, or a social sport in your area? Done. Want to match with a local organisation that needs a volunteer like you? Easy. Want to finally do something with that hobby you’ve always talked about trying? Let’s make it happen.

We’re here to revive that sense of serendipity — but with structure. To create real-world moments where connection can bloom. Not just romance, but community. Shared passion. New friendships. Chosen family.

Because the truth is, the ache we feel isn’t just about dating. It’s about belonging. It’s about being seen, known, and appreciated for who we are beyond our profiles. It’s about hearing someone say, "I’m glad you showed up today."

So yes, we get it. You want something real. Something warm. Something offline.

We do too.

Get Out is the space between swipes, where stories begin — not where they end. If you’ve ever longed for a moment that feels like a movie scene but actually ends in a coffee, a laugh, or a long conversation, then you’re exactly who we’re building this for.

Let’s create something we can be nostalgic for, together.