A British poll revealed that almost half of the young people in respondents would rather grow without internet, and most accept an hour to collect on social networks. What is behind this?
The Instagram Account of the The Offline Club It has almost 530 thousand followers. This seems almost ironic as The Offline Club promotes a conscious social networking break, including Instagram.
“Exchange Real Time Screen Time”It’s the slogan used by the three Dutch founders of the event management company, Ilya Kneppelhout, Jordy Van Bennekom and Valentijn Klok.
Its goal is to use The Offline Club to “turn on to themselves and others through real -world communities and authentic and offline experiences. ”
Last year, the three organized meetings during which smartphones and portable computers were not allowed. “You’re ready To get rid of your mobile phone?”Ask in a reel posted on Instagram.
Apparently, more and more people are willing to turn off their mobile phones, at least for these organized events.
Instead of taking off their smartphones, people read, play games, do manual work or relax for a few hours. The workshops, called Digital detox retreats, They last several days.
“We imagine a world where spaces without mobile phones and offline communities are the norm,” the three founders write on their website.
O Dutch concept has been spreading all over the world in the last year. Amsterdam was one of the first places, followed by London, Paris, Milan and Copenhagen.
Berlin also welcomed the first meetings of this kind. In addition, a growing number of restaurants and nightclubs have been asking its customers that Leave the mobile phones at home.
Studies reveal that more and more people want to spend less time online
The Newlandic founders seem to have reached a sensitive point. After all, young people, in particular, often have difficulty turning off their smartphones, although they have all the definitions that could limit their use time.
Even the Return of the “boring mobile phone”Without applications, it was not able to seriously replace smartphones, despite being celebrated on social networks.
According to the numbers of the German industrial association Bitkom, by the end of 2024, people aged between 16 and 29 will spend more than three hours a day in your smartphones. This is the highest use time of all age groups, and the effective duration is probably even longer.
However, a large number of young people would like to spend much less time on their smartphones. According to a new British Standard Institution inquiry, almost 70% Of the 1293 people aged between 16 and 21, they feel worse when they spend time on social networks. Half would be in favor of a “digital collection touch” that restricted access to certain applications and web sites after 22 hours. About 46% even said they would have preferred being young in a world without internet.
These results are in line with other inquiries, such as Harris Poll, an American survey institute, held in late 2024. In this inquiry, many young people wanted Tiktok, Instagram or X had never been invented.
Political protection
On Tuesday, British Minister of Technology, Peter Kyle, hinted that he is considering possibility of a mandatory collectaccording to The Guardian newspaper.
Norway wants to increase the age limit for the use of social networks from 13 to 15 years. Pioneer worldwide, Australia has already increased the age limit to 16 years in late 2024. Other countries, such as Denmark, almost fully forbid the use of tablets and smartphones in school courtyards. In 2024, Danish Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye said the country had been naive in his approach to digitization.
Harmful effects on the use of smartphones
Excessive use of smartphones is still associated with various mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, stress, sleep disorders and addictive behaviors.
A study published in BMC Medicine earlier this year concluded that depressive symptoms decreased 27% After three weeks of reduced use of the smartphone.
According to the organization for economic cooperation and development, the mental health of young people deteriorated dramatically in the last 15 years. This trend was even more exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, when digital media were increasingly used. However, the OECD also stated that the investigation has not yet been able to prove any direct causality between these two factors.
Dutch Offline Club founders want to take action and expand their meetings. Offline events are increasingly in different cities.
In early April, more than 1000 people turned off their mobile phones and smiled happily to the House in London. This marks a new record, proudly declared offline influencers – on Instagram, of course.
