Gen Z is swapping their smartphones for this retro alternative: ‘Need a social media detox’
By Caroline Cubbin
Young folks are desperately trying to reconnect with the world around them. The method many have chosen? “Dumbphones” — otherwise known as the millennial-era Blackberry.
Ironically, Gen-Z is taking to social media — which isn’t even supported on a dumbphones — to spread the word.
For months now, users ranging in age from mid-20s to late teens have been demonstrating interest in “retro” technology like Walkmans, iPods and digital cameras.
tiktok screenshot with text describing gen-z blackberry trend
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This content creator simply admires the retro aesthetic, rather than the clunky tech.
TikTok/@vicvicvicvicvicc
But the latest Y2K craze has older generations positively baffled.
A quick TikTok search under the keyword “Blackberry” will display thousands upon thousands of videos of Gen-Zers purchasing shelved Blackberry phones off of eBay or digging them out of their parents’ closets, decorating them with rhinestones and keychains, and flaunting clicky ASMR-worthy keyboards.
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For many, the Blackberry craze is a continuation of 2000s nostalgia-core, a time when aesthetics like Britney Spears-esque McBling, cyberfuturism and Frutiger Aero ruled the trends.
“We’ve come full circle,” declare dozens of comments under posts by TikTok content creators like @notchonnie, who uses her platform to show off her massive retro tech collection
“I’m so sick of Apple, I would give up just about everything for a BlackBerry!” one user wrote.
Commenters also shared how they scoured sites like Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and Back Market in search of Blackberry phones to supplant their modern smartphones.
For just a few hundred dollars, these tech-tired Gen-Zers purchase peace of mind — and plenty of questions from older generations who no doubt remember the spotty service, super-small keyboards, and less-than-intuitive user interfaces.
young people on their smartphones
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Pew Research Center reports that as of 2024, up to 95% of Gen-Z have daily access to smartphones.
Carlo – stock.adobe.com
Compared to the price of a new iPhone, which these days can cost upwards of a thousand dollars, and unlimited data plans that run users up to $70 a month, younger generations see the Blackberry as a no-brainer.
For many, the growing anti-smartphone movement is also a way to genuinely embrace the offline world and be more mindful about content consumption.
“The smartphone is not a source of enjoyment anymore,” Pascal Forget, a tech columnist in Montreal, told CBC News. “It used to be fun, but now [people are] addicted to it, so they want to go back to simpler times using a simpler device.”
“These are supposed to be the best moments of our life, but you look around and people are scrolling,” Sammy Palazzolo, a TikTok content creator who uses a flip phone part-time, told USA Today.
Though they’ve grown up in the digital age, Gen Zers, and even older members of Gen Alpha, are starting to catch on — no matter where you look these days, everyone is glued to their phone.
According to a 2024 Pew Research Center study on the subject, nearly half of teenagers today say they’re online ‘almost constantly,’ compared to ten years ago, when 24% of teens answered the same.
Some have even reported feeling the phantom buzz of a smartphone notification, and others have said that tapping the ‘on’ button is now nothing less than a reflex.
“It just basically created this pattern where I was anxious, and so I’d open my smartphone, and then I would hate myself for opening my smartphone, which made me more anxious,” Charlie Fisher, a 20-year-old college student, told USA Today.
Will you be trying this "retro" trend?
blackberry tiktok trend
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This TikTok user was also fed up with her online life, so she bought a BlackBerry to try to jumpstart a change.
TikTok/@alyssa.lenore
In facilitating his digital detox, Fisher ditched his iPhone for a flip phone, and according to him, he hasn’t looked back since.
“I’ve been seeing things more like when I was a kid,” Fisher continued, elaborating on his newly-found phone-free lifestyle. “You really see things for how they are in the physical world, and your emotions are really attached to that.”
Flip-phones and 2000s-era tech like the BlackBerry aren’t just cheaper.
According to Gen-Z, they promote spending more quality time with family and friends, exploring other hobbies outside of doomscrolling and binge-watching, and finding a healthier work-life balance, which begs the question: are the kids actually onto something?
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