Smartphones are a technological marvel. The pocket-sized rectangles connect people worldwide through the mere press of a few buttons. In just a few clicks, I can find the biggest news of a small town in Japan, the political opinions of a woman in Lithuania or even some entertaining content produced by a man in Uruguay.
And for those reasons and more, these metal rectangles can be addictive.
Gen Z (roughly 1997-2012) was the first generation to be born with this connective power. As such, they became the guinea pigs of social media, demonstrating just how a child might turn out when given access to more information than anyone in the history of the world had before. As the test subjects, they’re increasingly the ones reviewing the online experience and collecting heaps of concerning data for interested scientists.
The generation’s verdict? More and more, it’s an overwhelming, “Would not recommend.”
Gen Z Says Screen Time Is the Problem
In its fourth annual Gen Z Screen Time Report, research firm dcdx reported that the daily average screen time for Gen Zers was nearly seven and a half hours in 2024—far more than any other generation before them.
Entertainment and social media apps dominated the generation’s most-used apps. TikTok and Instagram alone took up nine and a half hours and seven hours of a Gen Zer’s week, respectively. That’s particularly troubling, since multiple studies have found a positive correlation between screen time/social media use and feelings of anxiety and depression. Such a connection would certainly help to shed light on why Gen Z experiences the highest rates of mental health issues—a conclusion the McKinsey Health Institute(a nonprofit focused on improving human life) corroborated. Another study, conducted by the insurance company AXA, revealed that many Gen Zers “struggle to maintain concentration during conversations—and will reach for their phone after two minutes and 15 seconds.”
But here’s the thing: Gen Z knows about these problems.
According to research company The Harris Poll, 40% of Gen Z respondents agreed with the statement that “they wish social media had never been invented,” and “six in 10 strongly or somewhat support a parent restricting their child’s access to smartphones until high school age.” That last percentage is telling, as it shows Gen Z’s increased wariness in allowing the next generations’ children to engage in the same digital culture in which they themselves grew up.
But there’s more. Both adults and teens list social media as the main factor negatively influencing their mental health—and nearly half of all teens say that social media harms people their age. In its “2024 Digital Wellness Report,” BePresent (a software company that works against screentime addiction) found that 83% of Gen Z believe they have an unhealthy relationship with their phone. Another study published in the Journal of the Human Development and Capabilities warned against providing a smartphone to those under the age of 13.
And those reasons are perhaps why Gen Z, despite leading the charge in screen time, is likewise leading the charge in reducing its power over their lives.
‘Appstinence’ and Dumbphones Could Be the Solution
Gabriela Nguyen, a Gen Z student at Harvard, fed up with the control smartphones had over her and her friends’ lives, decided to start a new organization called Appstinence. She hopes to help others learn to live without social media and smartphones.
Appstinence warns people about the addictive design of smartphones, which can lead to an aversion toward in-person interactions. It also alerts viewers to the normalization of doomscrolling and explains that reaching for the phone every time we feel bored “teaches an entire generation to fear our thoughts.”
That’s why Nguyen has created an alternative for those who feel the weight of screentime addiction. On her organization’s website, she outlines her “5D method” to achieve “appstinence,” summarized below:
- Decrease your ability to access your apps by deleting them from your phone.
- Deactivate your social media accounts one at a time, starting with your least-used account.
- After 30 days, your social media accounts will be fully Deleted (most social media sites require a 30-day deactivation period before they’re permanently deleted).
- Downgrade your device to a phone that isn’t a “traditional smartphone,” whether that’s a basic flip phone or a device somewhere in between.
- Depart from your previous digital dependency.
Many others like Nguyen are likewise looking to leave their smartphones behind entirely. There’s even a Reddit forum dedicated to the topic with, as of posting, 146,000 members. These Gen Zers are searching for devices dubbed “dumbphones,” a name used to describe devices that lack many of the advanced features that come with smartphones, such as social media accessibility. Dumbphones are sought out by those who find smartphone app restrictions too easy to bypass; who find smartphone features and social media too addictive, public or problematic; who just want to live simpler, yet still-connected lives.
Statistics and many, many, many testimonies indicate that Gen Z has been embracing the dumbphone at higher rates than older generations. Recent technological developments have made the dumbphone more attainable, too, with increasing customization options that make the smartphone switch easier for those interested. For instance, some phones straddle the line between smartphone and dumbphone, still offering access to apps such as Google Maps, Spotify and QR code scanners but restricting use for social media. And several websites have even curated lists of the best dumbphone options on the market.
Many who have abandoned their smartphones claim that adopting the trend has improved their lives, forcing them to fill boredom with reading, pursuing art or other screenless hobbies. They also report a reduction in anxiety due to the lack of both notifications and doomscrolling.
That’s not to say the trend isn’t without its difficulties: Wireless networks that support dumbphone connectivity differ by region, so some users may find the switch more trouble than it’s worth. (Dumbphones can sometimes be difficult to obtain, too.) Plus, not everyone will end up enjoying the change.
Conclusion
Regardless of where you may fall on the trend, it speaks to a bigger truth: Gen Z, the first generation to grow up immersed in personal smart technology, is switching away from that tech because they recognize a growing problem within that immersion—whether it’s addiction, anxiety or the way that smartphones shape and reform their still-developing brains. And though we live in a world where many jobs and activities demand connectivity, Gen Z is looking for ways to limit the harms that come with it.
So whether or not you are personally interested in switching out your phone, the appstinence and dumbphone trends are cause to think about how much time you allow your smartphone to take up.
