The Story

Phone habits are creating a lot of buzz.

Turning on Do Not Disturb.

Good. Not to be obvious, but it sure seems like everyone’s always on their phones — perhaps including you, right now. In fact, we’ll let these numbers do the talking: About half of 11- to 17-year-olds get at least 237 phone notifications a day, according to one study. And some get a lot more than that. As in, 5,000 pings and prompts in 24 hours. (For the record, adults aren’t much better.) Many of those come from social media, which, ironically, has become a lot less, well, social.

Hold the phone…

Here’s the status update. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, err, X may have started as places for sharing moody song lyrics, grainy sunsets, and way too many pics of your pet. But now, feeds are full of ads, suggested posts, and influencers hawking cleaning products — with the occasional update from friends or family. All of which might explain why people are posting less and re-entering the group chat(s). In carefully named grexts, people are sharing lol-worthy memes, work gossip, and cringe stories. But even the “Age of the Group Chat” comes with its own anxieties (see: racking up dozens of notifications in minutes). So for a true solution, stay…posted.

theSkimm

As social media has become increasingly overwhelming, many are swiping left on the whole experience — and getting back to basics.