I’m a 28 year old guy and I’ve started to realize I don’t enjoy being on my phone like I used to.
Growing up, I didn’t have a computer or internet access. The only time I got online was either at school or when I went to my grandma’s house. No cable either, just basic TV with maybe 5 channels. Then in 2012, I got my first smartphone (I was about 16), and that’s when the phone addiction really kicked in.
For over a decade, I loved having so much access to the internet. I was constantly watching YouTube, scrolling through social media, and eventually spending way too much time on TikTok. It felt like this endless source of entertainment and escape.
But something shifted in the last year or so. Scrolling doesn’t hit the same anymore. In fact, I started to feel dread while doing it. I deleted Facebook, Instagram, and X, and I’ve been using YouTube and TikTok way less. I’m not perfect, I still use my phone. but reducing my screen time has given me so much more mental clarity. I actually feel better, and it’s wild how much free time I really had once I stopped constantly doomscrolling.
I think part of it is that the internet itself just isn’t what it used to be. Back in the 2010s, it felt like a digital playground, there was this sense of curiosity, fun, and connection. Now it feels like a constant flood of negativity: nonstop arguments, bots, ads, people trying to go viral by tearing others down, and just general doom. Ever since COVID, that shift seems to have accelerated even more. And what’s up with the trend of everything is “cringy” now? Like people make fun of you for doing the smallest thing or say that you’re “trying to hard”. I noticed it’s usually younger people saying this on social media. Maybe I just don’t get the joke lmao
It’s kind of crazy how not being on your phone now feels like peace. That alone says a lot. It’s not about being anti-tech or anti-phone, it’s about realizing how much of your attention and mental energy has been hijacked for years.
There is a sad part of being on my phone less though. I’ve become more self aware of not only myself but how others are. Everywhere you go now people are looking down on their phones. Waiting in line, going for a walk and especially sitting down at restaurants. It feels very dystopian. I don’t want to be apart of that.
I’ve talked to others about this and they totally relate. We all agreed that the excitement of being online just isn’t there anymore. Maybe the novelty wore off… or maybe the internet just kind of sucks now. Feels like most of it is bots, trolls, people trying to prove you wrong, or just plain negativity. I know trolls have always been around, but it feels like that energy intensified post-COVID.
Maybe younger people who were born into technology might not know what I’m saying but I spent half my life with iPhones, streaming services, unlimited Internet access, etc and half without. So there’s a part of me that remembers what is was like before we all became so consumed by technology.
We all feel plugged in and “connected” which has its benefits but I do also feel it’s stunted alot of our growth as people. I mean from personal experience alot of the kids I work with who are under 21 years old are very awkward and can’t hold a full conversation. Not to mention all the anxiety they have.
Honestly, I think people are craving something more real now. That nostalgic feeling of just living in the moment, not being consumed by constant noise. I used to think my parents were overreacting when they blamed the phone for everything, but damn, they were kinda right.
Anyone else feel this way?
Comments
You’re just getting old bro
Feel like it’s the same few apps we open all the time and mostly it’s always adds for random stupid things or cringy “influencers”
I feel exactly the same way about everything you said. Although, because I’m a very anxious person and an introvert, it’s hard for me to go out and make friends and be social – so social media is my way of doing that without the pressure of in person interaction. But I also struggle with this because I know that’s not healthy at all and it just makes it even harder to form healthy relationships with friends.
For me it’s the way internet is so different from the 1994-1996 era. It’s used to be friendly. It was like a global community. There was no profit model. We all really thought that that was what internet was all about. Now it’s the complete opposite.
Yes, because not everything was being sold to us on the early internet or even very early social media. Now everything is one big ad and it’s very hard to find something that’s “real.” It makes me sad to be honest.
Of course. Those are the two leading causes of making people awful.
Cultural civil war
100%
The benefits of the internet peaked in Early 2010s and its been downhill since.
I would switch from my s23 to a qwerty BLACKBERRY if they launched.
Absolutely. I feel like there was an arc of the benefits of all that, and now we are on the downturn.
Drugs don’t give the same high after a while.
Ya, I spend most of my time opening and closing apps. It just bores me having one.
Everything is ‘for profit’ now. Sites that existed just for fun died out in favor of a money making model. Sigh… I’m so tired of everyone everywhere EVER trying to wring cash out of me.
All the “content creators” have learnt the tricks of the trade and they’re all the same, trying their best to make a living out of it rather than have a proper job.
Then you’ve got other social medias full of depressing, right wing news.
Why the hell are you spending so much time on your phone in the first place?
A cell phone is a tool. If you are staring at it 8+ hours a day YOU NEED HELP.
iPhone should get rid of the App Store change my mind. Only folder I need is a utilities type folder.
Addiction and advertising becomes less and less fun.
They just transplanted all the shit there already was into this magical place of truth, fact and information- colabative learning…it started with the rush to buy website names…ugh…
Anymore, I just use my mobile browser to get onto social media. I noticed that I didn’t spend much time on them. Mainly on Reddit and Twitter. Otherwise, I am not online. I fully believe that it is the apps themselves.
I agree, I’m a couple years older than you so same experience with not having much tech in the younger years but then it being a normal part of adulthood.
I’ve been actively trying to reduce or at least just change the time I spend online. I found I was getting so much negative content that was affecting my nervous system. I couldn’t handle having to hear about every horrible thing going on in the world and people freaking out about it.
I’m trying to change some of my habits so I don’t use my phone so much. Reddit is basically the last thing I have left that I can scroll on and sometimes I stay on Reddit for longer than I’m used to because it’s the habit of scrolling!
But it feels unhealthy and I want to opt out, it’s just not easy.
Absolutely, and you put it so well. A lot of us are waking up to that same weird, bittersweet realization: the internet used to feel like this magical, endless world, and now it feels more like a noisy mall with flashing ads, people screaming at each other, and a hundred shops selling the same thing