Axios: Gen Z leads social media exodus

Posted on May 8, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
Gen Z leads social media exodus
 
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

Some Gen Zers — ages 14 to 29 — are ditching social media in pursuit of better mental health, Axios’ Rebecca Falconer reports.

It’s part of a wider digital detox movement away from screens and toward analog options.

Research suggests that social media use is waning — and that more people are embracing app-blocking products and “dumbphones” that lack social media apps. 

Chris Wells, a self-described former “Twitter and Instagram junkie,” tells Axios that he’s “99% off” social media after doing a “Month Offline” challenge.

The 26-year-old says: “I didn’t know who I was without my social media accounts, and when I quit, it was pretty miraculous.”

“The one thing that really came back to me was a sense of privacy. I hadn’t really felt that since I was a kid.” 

17-year-old Aditi Ediga deleted her phone’s social media apps last fall.

Ediga says: “One reason why teenagers don’t want to delete apps and stop using them is that they’re scared they’re going to miss out on stuff, and then I realized I wasn’t really missing out on anything.” 

NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of a bestselling book on the effects of childhood tech use, tells Axios: “What you’re seeing now, especially among Gen Z, is a self-correction back toward real-world connection.”

“They’ve felt the costs of isolation and are rediscovering what actually leads to flourishing.“ 

Yes, but: Plenty of young Americans are still spending countless hours on social media, with platforms facing calls to ban or restrict teen access.Go deeper.
    
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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