Do you see your friends a few times a year, and do these reunions feel like long catch-up sessions? You're not alone. This way of relating to others, called "catch-up culture," is quietly taking root in our lives and transforming the way we maintain our friendships.<\/p>\n
"Catch-up culture" refers to a modern way of managing relationships: you concentrate your interactions into a few spaced-out meetings, sometimes several months apart. As a result, each meeting becomes a moment where you "debrief" everything that has happened since the last time.<\/p>\n
Conversations often begin with the classic "So, what's new?"<\/em> , followed by a string of significant events: work, moving, social connections, projects. Between meetings, exchanges are often limited to a few reactions on social media or quick messages. Little by little, spontaneity disappears. Reunions are planned well in advance, and interactions become more organized\u2026 but also sometimes more superficial.<\/p>\n This phenomenon has been extensively analyzed by British author Michelle Elman<\/a> in her book "Bad Friend", published in 2025. She describes an evolution of friendships: we move from moments spent together to moments where we tell each other about our lives.<\/p>\n You share a lot of information, but not necessarily the most profound. Big announcements take center stage, while doubts, small victories, or everyday emotions often remain in the background. With social media, this disconnect is amplified. You can follow your friends' vacations or outings in real time\u2026 without really knowing how they're doing.<\/p>\n The rise of "catch-up culture" is no accident. Several factors explain this trend. Between the ages of 25 and 35<\/a> , the time devoted to social connections has significantly decreased, largely due to longer working hours and increased professional pressure. Available energy is often directed towards partners or families, leaving less room for friendships.<\/p>\n Geographic mobility also plays a role: moving house, changing cities or countries makes spontaneous encounters more difficult. Finally, a focus on efficiency creeps into your daily life. Seeing your friends can become a checkbox in a busy schedule, rather than a moment chosen and enjoyed.<\/p>\n Certain habits can indicate that you're in this dynamic without even realizing it. Your conversations resemble more of a review than spontaneous exchanges. You mostly talk about "big news," but rarely about everyday life. Meetings are infrequent, planned well in advance, and impromptu moments become almost nonexistent. You might also experience a slight disconnect: learning important things late, or feeling like you're no longer fully present in the other person's life.<\/p>\n Over time, this type of relationship can weaken friendships<\/a> . When exchanges are limited to summaries, the emotional connection can diminish. The mental load also increases: each encounter becomes an opportunity to "tell everything," which can create a sense of pressure. Paradoxically, you can have a large social circle\u2014many contacts, followers, and groups\u2014while still feeling a certain loneliness. Less depth, more quantity.<\/p>\n Good news: it's not about disrupting your schedule, but rather changing how you interact. The idea is to bring fluidity and simplicity back into your relationships. A spontaneous voice message, a thought sent for no reason, an impromptu invitation\u2026 these small gestures often mean more than a rare, grand meeting.<\/p>\n Experts also recommend prioritizing shared experiences: a walk, a weekend getaway, an exhibition, a film. You're not just recounting things, you're experiencing something together. By focusing on the present moment rather than summarizing the past, you nurture more vibrant and authentic connections.<\/p>\n In short, "catch-up culture" isn't inevitable. It's primarily a reflection of our busy lives and an era that values performance, even in social relationships. Recognizing this is already a step towards freer, more spontaneous friendships... and friendships more aligned with what you truly need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you see your friends a few times a year, and do these reunions feel like long catch-up...","protected":false},"author":8375,"featured_media":440621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_msn":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-440619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-societe"],"image":{"medium":["https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Anna-Shvets-_-Pexels-4-200x113.jpg",200,113,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Anna-Shvets-_-Pexels-4-500x281.jpg",500,281,true]},"custom":{"td_video":"","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Anna-Shvets-_-Pexels-4.jpg","author":{"name":"Fabienne Baure","avatar":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/fabienne_baure-96x96.jpg"},"categories":[{"term_id":5678,"name":"Society","slug":"societe","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5846,"taxonomy":"category","description":" The Society section of The Body Optimist unpacks the debates that shape women\u2019s lives: equality, discrimination, beauty standards, social ties and the place of bodies in public space. Its analysis, first-person stories and practical advice are for anyone who wants to understand the pressures of everyday life and push back, with an inclusive, body-positive and judgment-free perspective.<\/p>\n Beauty standards are a social issue because they are neither natural nor universal: they shift from one country to another and from one era to the next, as our article on how beauty standards differ around the world<\/a> shows. Yet these ideals of thinness, youth and flawless skin have very real effects: comments starting in childhood, pressure to watch your weight, unequal treatment at work and in health care, online harassment. Recognizing that a norm is constructed helps you take a step back, spot the messages designed to make you feel guilty and choose what you want to keep. That is the common thread of this section: connecting individual experiences to the collective mechanisms that produce them.<\/p>\n If you experience discrimination or online harassment, the first step is to keep evidence, then to turn to the right people, who will depend on the country you live in:<\/p>\n Born from a plus-size fashion site, our magazine looks at social issues through the lens of the body and representation. We give a voice to the people most affected, we explain the words before debating them (sexism, fatphobia, trans identity, consent) and we favor practical ways forward over outrage alone. Our articles start from everyday experiences to shed light on broader patterns, without moralizing or pitting women against each other.<\/p>\n Discrimination is unequal treatment based on a characteristic protected by law, in a specific area such as employment, housing or access to goods and services. Protected grounds vary from country to country, but they often include sex, race or ethnic origin, disability, age, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. Some places also protect physical appearance or weight.<\/p>\n Intersectionality describes how several forms of discrimination can overlap in the same person and reinforce one another. The American legal scholar Kimberl\u00e9 Crenshaw coined the term to describe the experiences of Black women. A woman who is both fat and lesbian, for example, may face sexism, fatphobia and homophobia, which compound one another rather than simply adding up.<\/p>\n Diet culture is the set of beliefs that equates thinness with health, success and personal worth. It shows up in foods labeled \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad,\u201d compliments on weight loss and the shaming of fat bodies. Our magazine prefers a weight-inclusive approach to health, at every size.<\/p>\n Want to go further? Our Culture<\/a> section explores how bodies and identities are portrayed in movies, TV shows and books, and our Psychology<\/a> section supports you with self-image, confidence and emotions.<\/p>","parent":0,"count":1539,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5678,"category_count":1539,"category_description":" The Society section of The Body Optimist unpacks the debates that shape women\u2019s lives: equality, discrimination, beauty standards, social ties and the place of bodies in public space. Its analysis, first-person stories and practical advice are for anyone who wants to understand the pressures of everyday life and push back, with an inclusive, body-positive and judgment-free perspective.<\/p>\n Beauty standards are a social issue because they are neither natural nor universal: they shift from one country to another and from one era to the next, as our article on how beauty standards differ around the world<\/a> shows. Yet these ideals of thinness, youth and flawless skin have very real effects: comments starting in childhood, pressure to watch your weight, unequal treatment at work and in health care, online harassment. Recognizing that a norm is constructed helps you take a step back, spot the messages designed to make you feel guilty and choose what you want to keep. That is the common thread of this section: connecting individual experiences to the collective mechanisms that produce them.<\/p>\n If you experience discrimination or online harassment, the first step is to keep evidence, then to turn to the right people, who will depend on the country you live in:<\/p>\n Born from a plus-size fashion site, our magazine looks at social issues through the lens of the body and representation. We give a voice to the people most affected, we explain the words before debating them (sexism, fatphobia, trans identity, consent) and we favor practical ways forward over outrage alone. Our articles start from everyday experiences to shed light on broader patterns, without moralizing or pitting women against each other.<\/p>\n Discrimination is unequal treatment based on a characteristic protected by law, in a specific area such as employment, housing or access to goods and services. Protected grounds vary from country to country, but they often include sex, race or ethnic origin, disability, age, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. Some places also protect physical appearance or weight.<\/p>\n Intersectionality describes how several forms of discrimination can overlap in the same person and reinforce one another. The American legal scholar Kimberl\u00e9 Crenshaw coined the term to describe the experiences of Black women. A woman who is both fat and lesbian, for example, may face sexism, fatphobia and homophobia, which compound one another rather than simply adding up.<\/p>\n Diet culture is the set of beliefs that equates thinness with health, success and personal worth. It shows up in foods labeled \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad,\u201d compliments on weight loss and the shaming of fat bodies. Our magazine prefers a weight-inclusive approach to health, at every size.<\/p>\n Want to go further? Our Culture<\/a> section explores how bodies and identities are portrayed in movies, TV shows and books, and our Psychology<\/a> section supports you with self-image, confidence and emotions.<\/p>","cat_name":"Society","category_nicename":"societe","category_parent":0}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440619"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":440780,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440619\/revisions\/440780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} When friendship becomes a summary<\/h2>\n
Why this model is essential<\/h2>\n
Signs that you're right in the middle of it<\/h2>\n
Bonds that can fray<\/h2>\n
How to breathe new life into your friendships<\/h2>\n
What you\u2019ll find in the Society section<\/h2>\n
\n
Why are beauty standards a social issue?<\/h2>\n
What can you do about discrimination or online harassment?<\/h2>\n
\n
Our approach: connecting the personal and the collective<\/h2>\n
Articles to start with<\/h2>\n
\n
Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
What counts as discrimination?<\/h3>\n
What is intersectionality?<\/h3>\n
What is diet culture?<\/h3>\n
What you\u2019ll find in the Society section<\/h2>\n
\n
Why are beauty standards a social issue?<\/h2>\n
What can you do about discrimination or online harassment?<\/h2>\n
\n
Our approach: connecting the personal and the collective<\/h2>\n
Articles to start with<\/h2>\n
\n
Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
What counts as discrimination?<\/h3>\n
What is intersectionality?<\/h3>\n
What is diet culture?<\/h3>\n