Save Rave Space: Free to Express, Not to Be Shamed
With phones constantly recording on the dancefloor, rave culture faces a new threat: online shaming. This blog explores how filming impacts self-expression and how events like DGTL are pushing back, raising awareness through social media and national news.
At events, we’re meant to lose ourselves in music and movement — not worry about who’s watching. But with constant phone use at raves and festivals, we’ve seen a troubling rise in online shaming. Footage of people dancing, expressing themselves, or simply being themselves is being captured — and circulated — without consent. Now we’re acknowledging a serious problem: our freedom to express is being hijacked.
Why Phones Are Fueling Online Shaming
Those ubiquitous lights on the dancefloor are often phones, pointed at whoever’s dancing wildly, being silly, or showing emotion. While the cameras catch the moment, they also collect content that can be used to shame individuals — whether intentionally or as “harmless fun.”
In Amsterdam, DGTL festival publicly addressed this, urging attendees to keep phones away and preserving dancefloors as spaces of freedom, expression, and respect, noting that “exposing others by sharing content without permission goes against everything we stand for” nos.nl.
These moments aren’t just recordings — they’re potential digital scars.
Sonder Survey: The User Perspective
To better understand how this affects our community, Sonder conducted a survey among event attendees:
80% said being filmed or shamed online made them feel awful or very uncomfortable.
A striking 97.5% admitted that phone-shaming influences how they express themselves — consciously or unconsciously.
These aren’t just numbers. They reflect a collective unease: our phones are shadowing our freedom.
What Should Be Safe — Isn’t
Events should be spaces to express yourself fully. Feel free. Be unfiltered. But when you don’t know who’s watching, every move becomes a moment to be judged, not lived.
The irony? We attend these events to break free — yet our phones keep us bound in fear of exposure.
The Sonder Solution: Safe, Free, Present
We believe a rave or festival should be a judgment-free zone. A place to lose yourself — no performance, no fear — just pure expression.
The answer lies in phone-respectful event design:
Create safe zones
where phones are discouraged. Not banned — but mindful use is guided.
Foster phone-free connections
with visuals provided by Sonder’s curated capture teams. The result: you live it fully, and still receive respectful event content afterward.
That’s the balance we champion: presence first, then sharing.
Final Thought
Your dance shouldn’t be a source of content for shame. Your expression should be safely lived — not filmed for judgment. Your moment should be yours.
Let’s save rave space. With Sonder, you’re free to feel — not afraid to be seen. #SaveRaveSpace #MomentsYouHaveMissed #SonderExperience
With phones constantly recording on the dancefloor, rave culture faces a new threat: online shaming. This blog explores how filming impacts self-expression and how events like DGTL are pushing back, raising awareness through social media and national news....