Many are reconsidering their relationships with technology as smartphones become more and more intertwined with our lives.<\/p>\n
Samuel Pavez\u2019s cellphone often draws \u00adcurious \u2014 and confused \u2014 looks when he pulls it out in public to pay for a \u00adcoffee.<\/p>\n
The device has a three-inch screen and is so small that it fits in the palm of his hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are really excited when they see it,\u201d said the 28-year-old Camosun \u00adCollege student.<\/p>\n
Some might find the tiny Unihertz Jelly Star\u00ad\u00ad \u00adinconvenient, but that\u2019s exactly why he made the switch last summer, after becoming tired of spending so much time on his phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to use on purpose,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pavez is one of many people reconsidering their \u00adrelationships with technology as smartphones become more and more intertwined with our lives.<\/p>\n
He chose a touch-screen smartphone instead of a flip phone \u2014 which is usually limited to calling and texting \u2014 because he wanted to access apps he uses every day, like Spotify for music and Google Maps for navigation.<\/p>\n
Pavez had a work phone that his employer expected him to use on his summer job, so he hasn\u2019t eliminated smartphones from his life, but he said making the switch for his personal use has made him feel less bound to digital connectivity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an active decision to not participate in the really connected world we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only downside, he said, is that the Unihertz Jelly Star\u2019s rarity makes technicians hesitant to do repairs, and replacement parts are hard to come by.<\/p>\n
Pavez, who ordered his mini phone online, said he was shocked that telecommunications firms that sell phones in bricks and mortar stores don\u2019t offer \u201cdumb phones\u201d that run modern smartphone software.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not in their best interest for people to be less connected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finn Murphy is another young person rethinking his smartphone use in a radical way.<\/p>\n
While he only graduated from high school a few years ago, he said he\u2019s been reflecting for years on his \u201caddiction\u201d to smartphones.<\/p>\n
When AI content started to creep into Murphy\u2019s social media feeds, he decided to opt out, deleting Instagram on his phone a year and a half ago.<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t enough to keep him away from temptation. So Murphy ordered a flip phone online this past June and has been using it exclusively ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been pretty awesome,\u201d he said. \u201cI cannot see myself switching back any time soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy says he\u2019s been reading more books and recently purchased a portable CD player to listen to music without Spotify.<\/p>\n
He said people are often surprised by his phone, but enthusiastic about his choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cLots of people say they want one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There is a growing community of \u201cdumb\u201d-phone users on Facebook and Reddit, offering advice for others about which phone to buy and how to make the transition.<\/p>\n
Used flip phones listed for sale in Greater Victoria on Facebook and Craigslist advertise their use for a \u201cdigital cleanse.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concept is increasingly popular among younger people who grew up with smartphones, Snapchat and selfies as part of their everyday life as tweens and teens.<\/p>\n
![\"web1_vka-phone-00782\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/web1_vka-phone-00782.jpg;w=960.jpeg\"\/)
\nUniversity of Victoria writing professor Deborah Campbell with her flip phone. Campbell relies mostly on her landline at home, where she\u2019s so committed to an unplugged lifestyle that she turns off her Wi-Fi at night and for much of the day, checking emails once in the morning and afternoon. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST
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University of Victoria writing professor Deborah Campbell started the UVic Offline Club last year after years of assigning a project in her non-fiction writing class where students go without their smartphones and write about the experience.<\/p>\n
She said students in her class who put their phones away reported being \u201calmost instantly\u201d able to read books again and said that their mental health improved.<\/p>\n
Students meet weekly in the library as part of the writing department-sponsored club.<\/p>\n
Those studying all disciplines, including computer science, gather to chat, play card games and make friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people are feeling like technology is running their whole lives,\u201d she said, adding that students often talk about loved ones who are consumed by social media and smartphone games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little foothold on a technology-saturated campus where students can live as university students have for thousands of years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campbell said students going without smartphones sometimes express fear of missing out on student events, which the university often advertises on social media.<\/p>\n
So one computer science student suggested programming a simple app to share events without relying on the multi-billion-dollar social media industry for promotion.<\/p>\n
![\"web1_vka-phones-23152\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/web1_vka-phones-23152.jpg;w=960.jpeg\"\/)
\nRecent UVic graduate Elladee Kay says the fear of missing out is the hardest part of spending time away from social media, adding that she was \u201creally nervous\u201d for the first few days without her phone. DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST
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Recent UVic graduate Elladee Kay participated in two of Campbell\u2019s \u201cscreen cleanses\u201d and said they inspired her to apply for graduate programs to study social media and AI in public policy.<\/p>\n
She said the question driving her is: \u201cHow do we protect future generations from this attention-grabbing monster that is our phones?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kay said the fear of missing out is the hardest part of spending time away from social media, adding that she was \u201creally nervous\u201d for the first few days without her phone.<\/p>\n
She was dog-sitting at the time and said she \u201cfound the silence to be unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her boyfriend joined her in cutting out screens for the second time during a class with Campbell a year ago.<\/p>\n
Kay said the second experience made her feel more creative and in tune to her surroundings, where she details in everyday life that she would have missed if she were scrolling on Instagram.<\/p>\n
She joined the offline club and said the best part was chatting with software engineering students about how their technology-based education influenced the way they felt about smartphones.<\/p>\n
Kay uses an app that limits her screen time and leaves her phone in another room while she\u2019s sleeping. She said that \u201ccreating little moments of friction\u201d when she reaches for social media has been the most effective strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t realize how much time you\u2019re losing until you get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kendal Rockley helped facilitate the offline club on Campbell\u2019s behalf while the professor was away last year. The sociology and business student said she was so fascinated by the experience that it ended up becoming the focus of her honours thesis, where she wrote about dependency on technology.<\/p>\n
The club served as a \u201ccase study\u201d for the ever-growing trend of people actively seeking technology-free environments after struggling with screen use, she said.<\/p>\n
Rockley is still active on social media, citing positive benefits like socialization, but said talking with others in the club and writing her thesis about their experiences changed the way she saw her dependence on technology.<\/p>\n
She said she hopes universities, public areas and businesses will start to integrate more \u201coffline spaces\u201d into their common areas in an effort to \u201cre-write the social script\u201d around phone use.<\/p>\n
For Campbell, she\u2019s opted to do away with having a smartphone completely, and feels that her life would be \u201ccompletely different\u201d with one.<\/p>\n
Her concern is rooted in fear of data surveillance, after working as a journalist in places in the world where online activity is highly monitored and she had to think about where her data was going.<\/p>\n
The danger of data surveillance became evident when her friend in Syria was arrested by secret police after they tracked her online activity.<\/p>\n
Campbell now has a flip phone, but relies mostly on her landline at home, where she\u2019s so committed to an unplugged lifestyle that she turns off her Wi-Fi at night and for much of the day, checking emails once in the morning and afternoon.<\/p>\n
Campbell often sets aside Sundays as \u201coffline days,\u201d where she doesn\u2019t use Wi-Fi at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s blissful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another Victoria resident, Mary Lloyd, sees the importance of time spent off screens as crucial, too, which has prompted her to host \u201cunplugged\u201d in-person gatherings.<\/p>\n
After seeing a video on Facebook of people gathering to read together in Amsterdam, Lloyd reflected on her own experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the feeling of gathering at the summer cottage around that big oak table, playing games.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"web1_08xx2026-flipphones\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/web1_08xx2026-flipphones.jpg;w=960.jpeg\"\/)
\nStrangers turn into friends at Caffe Fantastico in Quadra Village during a monthly \u201cunplugged\u201d event where people gather without smartphones. VIA MARY LLOYD
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She reached out to Caffe Fantastico in Quadra Village and hosted her first event in November 2024, which attracted about 70 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like an instant hit. I was blown away by the turnout,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The event takes place on the third Friday of each month, and participants take part in a variety of activities, such as card games, Scrabble or crafting.<\/p>\n
Lloyd said the absence of phones makes people more likely to connect with strangers and make friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone comes on their own, they\u2019re always welcome to join another table.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that a room full of people without their phones feels \u201cwarmer and cozier\u201d than if they were checking messages and taking photos.<\/p>\n
Lloyd is still on Facebook, using it to promote her events, including silent outdoor discos that she started hosting during the COVID pandemic to encourage people to get together while staying safe.<\/p>\n
She founded Collective Joy Dance & Events in 2020 and hosts silent discos at schools, hospitals, community centres and beaches.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s still conscious of her phone use, though, often putting it in a bathroom drawer at home where she can\u2019t see it or become distracted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just love not having it around. It\u2019s like freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n