Kendall Schrohe remembers the second she swapped her smartphone for a flip telephone.
“For me, just like the second that my iPhone was gone, it was similar to heaven on earth,” the 23-year-old Washington, D.C., resident instructed CBS Information.
Schrohe is among the many rising variety of younger people who find themselves ditching their smartphones in favor of stripped-down “dumb telephones” in an effort to unplug from social media amid considerations concerning the platforms’ influence on psychological well being. Some additionally really feel nostalgic for an period they by no means knew earlier than the appearance of cellular units.
In line with Pew Analysis, roughly half of U.S. adults in 2025 visited social media platforms like YouTube and Fb at the least as soon as a day. Analysis from the American Psychological Affiliation confirmed even increased utilization amongst younger individuals, with the typical U.S. teen spending practically 5 hours a day on social media, in accordance with the group.
What’s a dumb telephone?
So-called dumb telephones are a broad class. At one finish are old-school flip telephones, in style within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s, that deal with calls and texts however little else. Then there are units that use flip-phone {hardware} however combine messaging and different apps. One other strategy includes utilizing smartphone expertise that blocks social media.
Schrohe acquired her flip telephone from Dumb.co, a startup that sells units loaded with sensible instruments like Uber, maps and Spotify, however no social media. Dumb.co stated it has greater than 5,000 energetic customers and that its typical buyer is a 24-year-old girl.
Different dumb telephone suppliers embrace The Mild Cellphone firm, whereas expertise firms comparable to Brick promote companion units that connect with smartphones to dam social media.
Though she’s completely happy she made the change, Schrohe acknowledged social media is a tough behavior to interrupt.
“Younger individuals, as a result of we grew up on these platforms, it’s extremely arduous for us to think about a life the place we’re not hooked on it as a result of that has been the norm our whole existence,” she stated.
A type of substance abuse?
In March, a jury dominated that Meta and YouTube have been liable for creating merchandise that led to dangerous and addictive habits by younger customers, a landmark determination that might set a authorized precedent for related allegations introduced towards social media firms.
Dr. Jason Nagata, a pediatrician and professor on the College of California, San Francisco, research social media’s results on younger individuals. His analysis discovered that social media utilization can mirror patterns seen in substance abuse.
“In youngsters after which even in adults, the form of options of the design can result in signs much like substance-related addictions, which may embrace impaired management, withdrawal, tolerance and relapse,” Nagata stated.
Nagata additionally stated the analysis suggests a real payoff for individuals who decide to lowering their social media utilization or staying off the platforms altogether. “In the long run, many do discover enchancment in sleep, higher focus, much less general stress.”
Schrohe stated she spent years making an attempt to wean herself off social media and cut back the period of time she spent texting and scrolling on her smartphone. She lastly succeeded with the assistance of a program known as “Month Offline,” which companions with Dumb.co to problem members to ditch their smartphones for 30 days and interact in communal screen-free actions as an alternative.
“I wanted that excessive measure, wish to bodily not be capable of entry social media in an effort to understand, like, that I truly most well-liked life with out it,” Schrohe instructed CBS Information. “The idea of social media, it isn’t like inherently evil. It is the way in which it is designed to maintain you on it. That is just like the damaging half.”
She added, “In the event you really feel such as you wish to change your relationship with expertise, like, you possibly can. It actually opens up your thoughts.”
