Theory 1 of 3: How phones took our agency away

Highlight of the week: Today’s newsletter is written by my brilliant coworker Sarah, a data analyst who studied digital culture and online research in the Netherlands.

Want to be our next guest writer? DM me.

After last week’s newsletter, some colleagues were reflecting on why everyone’s so depressed. 😔 

The most common theory shared is that phone addiction is eroding our social bonds, stoking our anxiety, and frying our dopamine receptors.

One colleague, let’s call him Liam, told us he was so desperate to cut down on late-night scrolling that he resorted to locking his phone in a box overnight. 

That sounds a bit extreme, I thought. What if there’s an emergency?

💬 Liam: I actually got trapped in my room the other night. The door handle fell off, and I couldn’t call my housemate. So I had to bang on the wall until he woke up…

💬 Liam: But other than that, I've been sleeping like a baby. 💤

We’re all ready to touch grass

Everyone has a story like Liam’s, whether it’s locking their phone in a box, blocking their feed, or deleting social media altogether. That’s because most people feel they’ve lost their agency when it comes to screens. 

Spending most of your free time online isn’t inherently a Gen Z problem — they just experience it most intensely, having grown up with smartphones. 🤳

Today, almost 50% of teens say they’re online “almost constantly,” double what it was 10 years ago, and they spend most of their time on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. But, they have conflicting feelings about it. 

Roughly 4 in 10 teens say they spend “too much time” on their phones, and a similar number have actively tried to reduce their screen time. When they don’t have their phones, most teens reported feeling happy (74%) or peaceful (72%) as their dominant emotions.

We found a similar trend when we polled our audience. Overall, Gen Z spends significantly more time on their phones, but almost everyone (84%) felt bad or unsure about their screen time, with most wanting to halve their usage and cut down on social media and scrolling. 🙅

Why it’s so hard to reduce screen time

If everyone hates being on their phones so much, why haven’t we solved this yet? Three reasons.

👉 First, most people still like being online.

A while back, we polled Gen Z on whether their high school experience would be (or would have been) better without phones – most (67%) said no or they weren’t sure. 

The issue isn’t being online… It’s how much we’re online.

Growing up in the 2000s, my access to the internet was limited by our family desktop. I’d gossip with friends on MSN, design Bebo skins, or download songs for my iPod. But, once my mum called me for dinner, it was back to the offline world, whether I liked it or not. 🌱

Phones have made a lot of things easier: getting around, contacting old friends, buying and returning seven pairs of jeans. So, if you want to reduce screen time, simply throwing away your phone isn’t a realistic option.

👉 Second, restriction is hard because phones are designed to keep us hooked.

It should come as no surprise that the more time spent on platforms = more data to sell to advertisers. So, the incentives are stacked against you. 💰

Addictive features – like unpredictable notifications, hyper-personalized feeds (when I get served another obscure Danish post-punk song 🤌), and FOMO-inducing disappearing stories – might be platform-specific. But deleting social media won’t necessarily reduce your screen time.

That’s because similar features can be found in ‘essential’ apps, such as breaking news alerts, location-based triggers, or read receipts. And if you silence all notifications? You’ll probably still compulsively check your phone to see if a message has been sent into the void. 🌚

@justhopeforcore

Senator, we run ads 🙂 #hopecore #hopelesscore #facebook #Markzuckerberg #senator #court #funny

👉 Third, it’s a collective action problem.

A recent study asked US college students what incentives they would need to delete social media. On average, students said they would deactivate their TikTok accounts for $55 and Instagram for $47 🥺

Yet, 33% of TikTok users and 57% of Instagram users said they would prefer to live in a world without the platform.  So why did they keep using it? Because everyone else does.

No one wants to be the only one missing out. It turns out young people don’t just want to delete social media – they want everyone to. 🤝

‼️ Answer our 1-min survey (it’s open to everyone) ‼️

So what?

💡 For marketers & builders

• TLDR… Young people are tired of dopamine-maximizing content.

• Ask yourself… What are non-scrolling marketing alternatives?

• Check this out… Patagonia made an 80-minute documentary on wild salmon.

🫂 For parents & advocates

• TLDR… Your kids want to spend less time on their phones but don't want to do it alone.

• Ask yourself… What communities or activities foster in-person connection?

• Check this out…Let Grow compiled a list of phone-free camps for kids (US-based).

🤳 For Gen Z

• TLDR… There’s a reason it’s so hard to reduce screen time. 

• Ask yourself… Does time away from your phone make you feel anxious, relieved, or both?

• Check this out…The NYT profiles college groups that reject social media (and are recruiting new members).

– Your Internet Translator