Olivia Telecky-

Gen Z was born between 1996 and 2012, and since the first iPhone was released in 2007, many of us grew up with iPhone’s being a household item. As someone born in 2005, my first phone was a Samsung Galaxy. Yet, with the rise of touchscreen devices, there has been a pushback. In 2023, Nokia’s phone sales doubled as the TikTok hashtag ‘bring back flip phones’ started trending. Flip phones are just one example of a “dumb phone”- the opposite of the modern smartphone characterized by a lack of internet connection, low-resolution screens, and a lack of apps. Dumb phones can call, text, take photos, and… that’s it. 

It isn’t surprising that this style of phone is coming back. Growing up, I was constantly lectured on the dangers of smartphones; how they mess up your sleep cycle, raise anxiety and depression, and can even reduce cognitive capacity. Now that I and other people my age are entering our adult lives, we’ve decided to listen. According to one survey, three in five Gen Zers want to be less connected with the digital world, and we are the only generation whose social media usage has decreased since 2021. 54% of young adults say being on social media is bad for their well-being, and 51% of young adults say they daydream about a life without social media. 

However, disconnecting isn’t always that simple. As a young employee, I am expected to be available all the time, and my workplace uses text messages to communicate. If I simply had no phone at all, it would be nearly impossible to receive a job–many employers use phone numbers as their main method of communication–and in an increasingly digital age, education, healthcare, and even menus are mainly online. It also cannot be ignored that for many groups, it is unsafe to have a phone. As a woman, I already cannot walk alone at night without fearing for my safety, and if I have no way to call for help, I would banish myself to my dorm at all times. Phones are also necessary for people with certain medical conditions or disabilities who use them to monitor their condition and help navigate the world. For college students, no phone can also mean no communication with friends and family from back home. 

Thus, the “dumb phone” is a seemingly perfect solution. They have more security, longer battery life, and are much cheaper. They are also useful for people who have social media addictions and cannot rely on their own self-control to stop using those apps. There is another important aspect of this trend that cannot be ignored: the aesthetic. “Newtro” is a term for things that are retro, but have a modern spin. We’ve seen this with record players, fashion, and appliances. Now we are seeing the flip phone aesthetic come into play as well, with people posting their personalized flip phones. 

Another draw to flip phones is nostalgia, specifically anemoia, which is nostalgia for a time period that you didn’t actually live through and is often linked with dissatisfaction with the present, cynicism, and pessimism. Since Gen Z has often been labeled as the most pessimistic generation, this anemoia being seen strongly within people who are Gen Z is not surprising. Gen Z also has a lot of struggles with mental health. One study by the Walton Family Foundation surveyed 2,000 Gen Zers aged 12-26 and found that feelings of happiness tend to decline as Gen Z ages; nearly half of us are anxious and a quarter are depressed. One-third also claimed to lack love, support, and genuine connection. These are all problems that the smartphone and social media have been blamed for causing. 

Personally, I relate a lot to this anemoia. All my life, I have been told how much better the world was before the smartphone and social media. Recently, this has led to me longing for these better days I never got to experience. I have also been feeling smartphone fatigue. I am tired of doom scrolling, tired of carrying social media with me all the time, and tired of procrastinating my work and then stressing over everything I have to do. Instagram specifically, has stopped being fun for me. While my algorithm was never perfect, it used to be memes, hairstyles, and makeup art, but now I find that I’ll search for one workout video and end up getting sucked into the alpha male pipeline, or Instagram will realize I am a woman and start pushing skinny culture, Ozempic, filler, and color pallets. With the rise of AI, I don’t even get to enjoy human art anymore and Google has been more of a problem than a solution. Overall, algorithms have found that divisive posts generate more engagement so instead of a break, I get people saying horrible things just to get money and attention. 

I wasn’t about to spend more money for another phone though, so I did the next best thing. I turned my iPhone into a dumb phone, for free! I deleted Instagram and blocked every other app on my phone that isn’t text messaging, calling, Moodle, and the camera every day from 8 AM to 7PM, because I still want to have some stupid internet fun. I found that I had more time to read, watch (and actually watch instead of just listening to!) more TV and movies, and hang out with friends. It’s gotten to the point where I am relieved when 8 AM hits and my phone stops being my phone. This isn’t a solution for everyone, and if you have a positive relationship with your phone, more power to you, but if you are tired like I am, maybe give it a shot.