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Gen Z moving to Flip Phones
- Thread starter Mainsail
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“Everything”? I think you are being a bit hyperbolic. Is the coverage of flooding in California paid marketing via PR companies? Is the coverage of the war paid marketing by PR companies? I understand that pretty much all web sites have ads, but that doesn’t mean that all news coverage is paid marketing. I am no great fan of CNN, but generally, they mark their paid advertising links and “articles” as such.
Anyway, this is really about how people are trying to deal with their addiction to and obsession with social media. Getting a flip phone is one strategy. Personally, I would try logging-out and deleting apps, so I could continue to use other useful features of my smartphone. But, I don’t really use popular social media….MR is the closest I get.
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Yeah, that works. I have a 2016 iPhone SE that I just keep in my pocket and never really touch anymore except for the basics. But what got me to get away from social media is having grown apart from all the people I went to school with. You don't need to keep in touch with people who haven't been in your life for 5+ years, IMO.
Gen Z is stuck with working around it because of the way things work now that are not going to change until their generation isn't relevent anymore most likely.
Gen Z is stuck with working around it because of the way things work now that are not going to change until their generation isn't relevent anymore most likely.
I’m (early) GenZ here, in college. I can tell you have not seen a single person with a flip phone. I have no idea where all these articles are coming from. I assume some Boomer-paid, GenXer was made to scroll on TikTok or something to find what the “whippersnappers” are up to, stumbled across a video about someone born after 2000 using a flip phone to be “cool” and ran with it. Then every other outlet picked up on it.
This happens all the time nowadays. Every media outlet has basically become Buzzfeed which is ironic since nobody reads Buzzfeed anymore.
You know what phone I see most students using? iPhone. Out of the 20 or so friends I have between clubs, study groups, and hanging out, I know… three that have an Android phone.
Deleting distracting apps is only so good as you have the power to refrain from installing them
And with a web browser the temptation is just too powerful
Slowly but surely you just fall in the trap again, at least that’s my experience and that of friends of mine
Social peer wise you can be the edgy "I don't do social media so I got this flip phone" type, rather than just deleting the app.
"Samsung has shipped over 10 million units since its first generation model came out, which accounted for more than 88% of the global foldable smartphone market"
So you actually got me to read the article, and the only thing I learned is that Samsung has sold 10 million foldable phones since they were first introduced while Apple sells more than 200 million iPhones a year. Doesn't seem like any more of a missed opportunity than dropping the iPhone mini lines...
We've tried hard to keep the fact that Gen X is all in indentured servitude to the Boomers under wraps but you've seen right through our Buzzfeed razzle dazzle.
We would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling whippersnappers.
When an alcoholic wants to get clean, they don’t leave booze in the house. They get rid of it. A lot of people have firsthand experience with the addictiveness of social media and for some this may be the best way to keep off it. I’m not sure I understand why all the snark, about how this is just a big demonstration of following a trend, as if any of you know what’s in their minds and hearts. Gen Z is growing up in the social media hellscape we bequeathed to them so maybe let’s show them some grace as they try to get by in this world with their mental health intact.
I didn’t get wireless data on my iPhone until 2020. If I wanted to be more disconnected I would go back to that. Loved the quiet of leaving the house and leaving the WiFi behind. I was in my twenties btw.
Feel like the flip phone hype (however big or small, it’s not just CNN reporting) is temporary but there is a serious message in there. Social media is getting in the way.
Feel like the flip phone hype (however big or small, it’s not just CNN reporting) is temporary but there is a serious message in there. Social media is getting in the way.
A completely false statement. And a disservice to journalists (including but not limited to those at CNN) putting their lives and safety on the line to report on the war in Ukraine, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, etc. Journalists who get doxxed and threatened when they write something unflattering about this politician or that social media site owner. Journalists who are shot to death because they went to work that day.
If "everything on mass media is paid marketing via PR companies," then please let me know where you find what you consider real news about the world.
Of course, it is no problem to uninstall all social media apps from your smartphone. But that's too easy for these people. To get attention, you have to swim against the current. Such people try to produce themselves through such posts. They make themselves important.
I don't have Facebook or Instagram, but I don’t need to sell my iPhone because of this.
These are the same people who are vegetarians but still want to eat schnitzel. It's a strange world.
I don't have Facebook or Instagram, but I don’t need to sell my iPhone because of this.
These are the same people who are vegetarians but still want to eat schnitzel. It's a strange world.
I did just that years ago, even considered a Punkt or Lightphone. But I wanted to keep all the features you listed, plus music streaming, it’s my most used phone function.
No social media for me except LinkedIn for work, but I don’t have the app. It’s really a nice balance.
We need to drill down on this further. here isn’t just social media but with games and other apps. The issue is the bombardment of notifications.
I decided to learn German on Duolingo. In no rush, learn at a steady pace. I paid for an annual subscription so I could learn at a steady pace without ads for something I was interested in. Cue notifications about dropping down a league, getting that 200 day streak (probably says I have an issue), Lily has noticed you haven’t logged in today.
Take back control, disable the notifications, log in when you are ready and say to yourself ‘is it imperative that I know that Deirdre has had lip fillers’.
I decided to learn German on Duolingo. In no rush, learn at a steady pace. I paid for an annual subscription so I could learn at a steady pace without ads for something I was interested in. Cue notifications about dropping down a league, getting that 200 day streak (probably says I have an issue), Lily has noticed you haven’t logged in today.
Take back control, disable the notifications, log in when you are ready and say to yourself ‘is it imperative that I know that Deirdre has had lip fillers’.
Moving back to dumb/flip phones seems like a very radical solution for avoiding the temptation of social media. It usually means that one has to live without messaging apps, utility apps, google access etc. Depending on the line of work one is in that might be entirely impossible anyway. I don't believe there is a real trend of young people, outside the influencer bubble, moving back to flip phones permanently.
I have no social media apps on my phone and just browse twitter on safari. It's probably the most boring phone setup there is but it makes for a healthier relationship with my phone.
I have no social media apps on my phone and just browse twitter on safari. It's probably the most boring phone setup there is but it makes for a healthier relationship with my phone.
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This article is from CNN. Don’t believe it.
CNN = Certainly Not News.
CNN = Comedy News Network.
I don’t think this so called News is as impactful as portrayed by CNN.
CNN = Certainly Not News.
CNN = Comedy News Network.
I don’t think this so called News is as impactful as portrayed by CNN.
The only ones I’ve encountered looking for new flip phones are older people who are wanting to replace old flip phones.
The idea in this article is right up they with the assertion, “Vinyl records are coming back!”
No, they’re not. Certainly not in any mass market way. It’s a very niche thing, right up there with some young’uns’ curiosity/fascination with older tech like audio cassette. It’s a blip.
Yeah, we had some very cool stuff in the old days, but a lot of it I wouldn’t want to go back to. It was cool at the time because thats what we had with no alternative. I had lots of vinyl records and spent lots of time making lots of audio cassettes. I wouldn’t want to go back to that and almost no one would. Vinyl and cassettes take up a lot of room to store. Vinyl records are a hassle to take care of. Audio cassettes take hours to compose and record. And the highways were littered with miles of audio tape strewn along the side of the road from jammed cassettes ejected out the window in frustration.
I had a Samsung flip phone as my first cellphone. It was cool and opening it felt so Star Trek. But my smartphones have been superior and more convenient devices in every way. No way I’d go back.
A trend? This is nothing.
The idea in this article is right up they with the assertion, “Vinyl records are coming back!”
No, they’re not. Certainly not in any mass market way. It’s a very niche thing, right up there with some young’uns’ curiosity/fascination with older tech like audio cassette. It’s a blip.
Yeah, we had some very cool stuff in the old days, but a lot of it I wouldn’t want to go back to. It was cool at the time because thats what we had with no alternative. I had lots of vinyl records and spent lots of time making lots of audio cassettes. I wouldn’t want to go back to that and almost no one would. Vinyl and cassettes take up a lot of room to store. Vinyl records are a hassle to take care of. Audio cassettes take hours to compose and record. And the highways were littered with miles of audio tape strewn along the side of the road from jammed cassettes ejected out the window in frustration.
I had a Samsung flip phone as my first cellphone. It was cool and opening it felt so Star Trek. But my smartphones have been superior and more convenient devices in every way. No way I’d go back.
A trend? This is nothing.
What a millennial thing to say: “I’m sick and tired of…”
Wah. The world doesn’t owe you anything. Stop feeling entitled and get to work.
🤪
My wife and I both think about getting flip phones only… but giving up navigation, picture sharing, video calls, good cameras… it’s just not practically worth it.
Ask your average boomer how old a GenXer is and how old a millennial is. They'll say GenXers are in their forties (only the younger) and millennials are in their twenties (again, only the younger).
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Uhm, GenXers are in their 40s and 50s. None of them are being paid by a Boomer to scroll through TikTok.
Get my generation out your damn mouth...
And seriously, whippersnapper? I prefer my slights much more acerbic.
