Debriefing the Debrief: Sensemaking in college nightlife

This study examines nightlife as a site where college students engage in post-event “debriefs,” a retrospective process of storytelling and sensemaking. Drawing on 31 qualitative interviews and ethnographic data, it conceptualizes debriefs as a distinct modality of meaning-making. Findings identify three key processes: storytelling, temporal flexion, and archive building. Participants collaboratively construct multidimensional narratives, shaping both memory and future retellings. They also exercise temporal agency by extending or closing experiences through emotional framing and contextualization of nightlife experiences. Finally, they curate archives of photos, messages, and material “receipts” to anchor and filter memories. Together, these practices reveal how individuals and groups scaffold memory and strategically produce coherence in everyday life.