All over my social media feeds, fellow Gen Z and Millennials are taking time to ‘live an analogue life’. They’re signing out of their social media accounts and trading the digital world for physical alternatives. They’re reading paperbacks instead of e-readers, buying notebooks instead of using the notes app, and investing in hobbies to reduce their screen time.
It’s no surprise that as the generations who were the first to experience the fun and excitement as well as the darkness of social media, we’ve reached a point where we’d like to escape from it completely. To feel more actively human rather than scrolling through life passively, disconnected from what really matters. Many of my friends are doing this, but I work in social media – so how do I navigate this tension between the online world and analogue living?
Logging off from social media can have significant benefits: higher concentration, reduced anxiety levels and a clearer headspace. But quitting it cold turkey, with no alternative other than using your willpower, won’t make much of a difference in your life.
In an interview, Georgetown University professor and best-selling productivity author Cal Newport describes an experiment he conducted where a group of people committed to a 30-day social media detox. Those who successfully completed the 30 days replaced their screen time with activities like meeting up with friends, getting back into hobbies and creating a better structure for their day.
So it makes sense that my feed is full of content creators like Siece Campbell encouraging people to develop analogue practices that force you step outside of the doomscroll and break the addiction that comes with social media – from creating analogue bags filled with puzzles, magazines and knitting to building Lego sets, doodling and journaling. I love these activities and wouldn’t mind stepping away from my phone to do them, but there are only so many puzzles and textile crafts I can do before I run back to my phone. I need something more.
My identity was stained by the world and I was exhausted. For a while I gave up social media completely. But God had other plans.
I’ve been creating content online for about 12 years, starting with a blog, then building other accounts and creating a portfolio of work. It was a fun and experimental space until I became wrapped up in the productivity loop that left me working twice as hard to get half as far in an attempt to get into the creative industry. The foundation was built on trying to prove myself, because if I wasn’t active online, I was irrelevant. My identity was stained by the world and I was exhausted. For a while I gave up social media completely. But God had other plans.
Through social media, I have built communities, joined prayer groups with people I didn’t know but who grew to be friends, and have been able to cheer and encourage people in their greatest successes.
Another side to the good intentions of social media is evangelism. Gen Z are engaging with Christianity through online platforms. They are asking questions and searching for something more. Social media is the new agora – the marketplace of ideas. It’s like Acts 17:16–17, where Paul is “greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols”. So, he goes to reason with philosophers, “Jews and God-fearing Greeks” in the marketplace. It was an intellectual hub where people would debate life, death and the destiny of mankind. Sometimes social media can feel like that. In less than a minute, you could be exposed to news from across the world, AI-generated imagery, cat videos, new-age spirituality, robotheism and productivity gurus, all of them giving you their take on what to believe and what’s important.
God created us all with different callings and talents to be good news people in a dark and suffering world.
It’s key for some Christians to be online to cut through the chaos and offer peace, a new hope and the good news of Jesus. But this isn’t for everyone. God will use some people in the online space; others He will use in face-to-face conversations with neighbours and friends; often He will do both. God created us all with different callings and talents to be good news people in a dark and suffering world.
After many attempts at taking digital detoxes and trying all the hacks to stop being on my phone, I said I wouldn’t want to work in social media. I was put off by the stories of anxiety, depression and grieving parents, the disillusionment of missing out and always being switched on. Why would I want to be part of the darkness? I didn’t want to make it all about me and sell people things they didn’t need.
God changed my heart, teaching me to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).
He reminded me that because I had seen the darkness, I could be an ambassador for the light.
We have such a gracious God, who cares about our hearts more than followers or engagement. He’s there when we are on our phones and there when we switch off. He doesn’t condemn us and loves us wholeheartedly as we live imperfectly.
Social media is not inherently good or evil. It can be used by God in wonderful ways but should be seen as a tool – not your whole life. So, I would encourage you, instead of deleting and redownloading that app, ask God how you should use social media, be in-tune with how it’s affecting your heart, your thoughts and your words. Invite your friends into the conversation and hold each other accountable. It’s not about absolutes: being all in on social media and feeling guilty about it or going analogue and being disappointed with yourself when you’re scrolling again. It’s about God’s grace in both of those situations – you can come to Him in your failures and rejoicing. Keep God at the centre as you decide whether 2026 is the year you go analogue.