I think we hit peak social media in 2022.
During the pandemic, we were trapped inside. Social media was the only way to stay connected. Usage spiked across every demographic.
Then something shifted.
28% of Gen Z adults now report interest in acquiring a “dumb phone.” That’s double the rate of Gen X and baby boomers. This is deliberate rejection, not nostalgia.
The numbers tell a clear story. Facebook usage among teens collapsed from 71% in 2014-15 to 32% in 2022. Only 20% of teens now use it daily.
That’s not a trend. That’s a generational exodus.
The Generational Correction
I’ve seen interviews with secondary school students in Canada and the UK. Ages 12 to 17. They’re choosing flip phones.
Their responses? They find it peaceful. They have more time for things they care about. Their attention isn’t being harvested to feed an attention economy built on advertising revenue.
If you’ve grown up in front of an iPad because your millennial parents overcompensated from their own tech-deprived boomer childhoods, you hit burnout faster.
These kids have accumulated 15 years of screen time by their teenage years. The same amount older generations didn’t reach until their late thirties or forties.
They’re fatigued earlier. They’re rejecting it quicker.
In the UK, over 140,000 parents have signed the Smartphone Free Childhood pledge. They’re delaying smartphones until age 14. This is grassroots momentum, not corporate marketing.
What’s Filling The Void
Running clubs are exploding. Strava reported a 59% increase in running club participation globally in 2024, driven primarily by Gen Z.
84% of Strava users cite social connection as their number one reason for exercising. Gen Z is 29% more likely than millennials to work out with another person.
They crave human connection. The glossy, over-edited life people project online doesn’t satisfy that craving anymore.
It gets complicated, though.
I’m also seeing people develop parasocial relationships with AI. They tell ChatGPT their life story. They confide in it about being bullied, about crushes, about problems they used to share with friends.
The AI becomes their confidant. Their best friend.
People would rather spend an evening messaging an AI agent than scrolling social media. We’re potentially trading one problematic relationship for another.
Digital Tribalism Is Inescapable
The dumb phone movement is its own tribe. So are the running clubs. So are the AI companion users.
Deciding to reject smartphones is an extreme decision. Committing to wake up early for a 5K run every day is extreme for some people.
We aren’t watching the death of social media give birth to something universally better. We’re watching the death of the universal town square.
The 2010s vision of everyone on the same few platforms is over.
Now we have WhatsApp groups, gaming communities on Discord, short-form video on TikTok, each serving different tribes. High school cliques: jocks, nerds, goths, cheerleaders. That’s what the internet is becoming.
The counterintuitive part is that these divisions will become more extreme as we get more interconnected.
Twenty years ago, your social standing was shaped by maybe 100 to 150 people. Your school, your workplace, your neighborhood.
Now we’re flooded with hundreds of videos daily of people doing better than us. To feel special in a sea of billions, you either invest massive time and money putting yourself out there, or you lean into a tribe where your contributions matter.
Extreme groups win out against moderate groups. We’re watching it play out in politics. We’ll watch it play out across digital spaces.
The Lull Before The Next Hook
I want to be optimistic. I want to believe that the decline of traditional social media will give people space to embrace objectively good things. Touching grass, as we say. Being in nature. Face-to-face interactions. Creative pursuits.
But that’s only optimistic.
These are multi-billion dollar industries. They employ the best sociology professors, anthropologists, psychologists, psychiatrists. All working on ways to keep new generations hooked.
TikTok’s explosive growth came from an algorithm tweaked to create the perfect dopamine loop.
I worry what desperation will breed when these tech giants see young people disengaging. What will they build next?
We’re in a lull right now. The decline phase of social media as it currently exists. But we don’t know what the next hook is.
There might be another spike. It might come through AI. It might come through something we haven’t imagined yet.
My gut says that if they figure out how to stimulate oxytocin release instead of dopamine, we’re in trouble.
Dopamine is about reward and anticipation. It’s addictive but shallow.
Oxytocin fosters long-term attachment. Social bonding. Trust. A lasting sense of calm and security.
If they can package that feeling and deliver it through a device, that’s the next hook. That’s what pulls people back in harder than before.
We haven’t hit peak social because young people are buying flip phones. We’ve hit peak social because we’re in the quiet moment before someone figures out how to make us feel connected through a screen.
And when that happens, the dumb phone revolution won’t stand a chance.