00:00I use my phone a lot.
00:02I'm just scrolling through pointless social media.
00:05It's actually kind of always in my hand.
00:09Everything now is connected to this.
00:10It really rules our life now in many ways.
00:13It's like a part of us, an extension of us is our phone.
00:17It's crazy.
00:19Can you live without your smartphone?
00:21I'll admit it.
00:21I feel pretty anxious leaving without this phone.
00:24It's how I pay, find my way,
00:25and let my friends know that I'm running late, again.
00:28But sometimes I wish I wasn't so dependent on it.
00:31And I'm not alone.
00:32In a 2024 German survey, 84% of young adults said they use their smartphone too much.
00:38Yet only around 3% of people surveyed could imagine giving it up completely.
00:42So is there a way to take back control?
00:44Benno Flügel lived without a smartphone for 15 years.
00:48The best feature about not having a smartphone is having plenty of time.
00:54So I think smartphones really steal your time.
00:57But there are also trade-offs.
00:59I often ended up calling my friends instead of being included in WhatsApp groups.
01:03Another thing is digital services.
01:05A lot of services these days are only available when you have a phone.
01:09One and a half years ago, Benno decided to get a smartphone after all.
01:12Not having a smartphone for such a long time was definitely a rebellion.
01:17And then I decided it's time for my rebellion to stop at one point.
01:21Because the rest of society has decided to use those apps and to use those phones.
01:26So yeah, I was kind of a little bit forced to do it as well.
01:29But I try to use it in a meaningful way.
01:33So I try to use it as a tool to save time, but not as a toy to waste time.
01:39He only uses his phone to text, call and email.
01:42He doesn't have any apps, so he still has to buy public transport tickets manually.
01:45And that's not always convenient.
01:48I wanted to buy a ticket and of course it says at the moment I cannot use cash.
01:55Here's the catch 22.
01:57We might want to use our phones less.
01:59But everyday life keeps pulling us back to them.
02:01Buying and carrying tickets for instance is usually faster through an app.
02:05Though paper tickets are usually an option too.
02:07Other services can be harder to access without a smartphone.
02:10Logging into your work, email or bank account may require you to approve your login through an app.
02:14But needing your phone to get something done is one thing.
02:18Scrolling through Instagram or TikTok long after you're meant to put down the phone is another.
02:22So what makes those apps so hard to put down?
02:24Those apps are developed to have you sort of stay as long as possible, right?
02:27By having short term rewards, right?
02:29So I move to the next image and oh, that's nice.
02:31And then you have a 10 second reward rush and then oh, but what's the next image?
02:35And then it really works by sort of having you cling on to this app.
02:40Sort of by short term rewards or by giving you the feeling that you're missing out when you're not on
02:46the app.
02:47You just spend hours just scrolling and you don't really, really feel that you did it, you know?
02:53And then I only realized later like, oh, I've been on it for three hours.
02:58Or oh my God, it's already two in the morning.
03:00It's so late.
03:01I've got school tomorrow and I've just spent all this time on TikTok.
03:06I got to the point where I was really angry with myself and thought, why am I wasting my time
03:11like this?
03:12I know I don't want to and I know it's not good for me.
03:17That's time we could actually spend on something more worthwhile.
03:21We're dissatisfied with ourselves when we end up spending yet another evening glued to our phones
03:26instead of reading a good book that might have given us more.
03:29In the 2024 German survey, 93% of 18 to 24 year olds reported at least one negative effect associated
03:37with their smartphones,
03:38including distraction and trouble sleeping.
03:40What happens when we take the internet off our phones altogether?
03:43In a study published in 2025, researchers asked participants in the US and Canada to go two weeks without internet
03:49access on their smartphones.
03:50Calls and texts were still allowed.
03:52Participants showed improvements in well-being and concentration and spent more time outdoors exercising and socializing.
03:58Of course, our phones can also bring us closer to people, especially when we use them to actually communicate.
04:04One US study found that older adults who use social media to communicate with family and friends
04:08reported greater social support and less loneliness.
04:11Research also suggests social media can help young people in rural areas connect with peers beyond their immediate surroundings.
04:17It can also help queer young people find people who share their experiences and access support.
04:22But what about offline connections?
04:24At the offline club, people lock their phones away and spend a few hours reading, writing, drawing, doing puzzles or
04:30simply being together.
04:32As a child, I would always be drawing and things like that.
04:35So it definitely also is a bit of an inner child, you know, who doesn't want to be behind the
04:41screen and be online all the time.
04:43The idea began in 2024 as a small initiative by three students in Amsterdam.
04:48It has since developed into a growing network of offline events across Europe and, perhaps ironically,
04:54has built a following of around 660,000 on Instagram.
04:58What I just really love is that you can kind of unwind, but also with other people.
05:02So when you're at home, it's just by yourself and you're like, okay, I cannot use my phone right now
05:08or I should just chill.
05:10And then it's a bit harder than when you actually, yeah, go somewhere, someplace like here,
05:15and then you're surrounded with all these people who are kind of in the same vibe and then it's just
05:19a special feeling.
05:20And there's research behind that idea. In one experiment, scientists brought strangers together in small groups.
05:26Some could keep their phones, others had to put theirs away.
05:29Those with access to their smartphones spent less time socializing and enjoyed the experience less.
05:34Sometimes we'll just be hanging out at someone's place when their parents aren't home or whatever.
05:39And then the three of us just spend an hour watching TikTok together on one phone.
05:44Beno wants more people to question how they use their phones and is taking his message through the streets
05:49by putting up protest flyers.
05:51Our slogans are exit social media, regulate big tech and stop digital dystopia.
05:56We are living in kind of a digital dystopia already.
06:00We don't control the algorithms anymore. The algorithms, they control us.
06:05And so this is a wake up call.
06:08The radical anti-smartphone front really wants to urge people to take action.
06:12Every minute that people are spending less on social media is a success.
06:16He started campaigning with friends 10 years ago.
06:19Now his protest has spread also to other cities like Brussels and London.
06:24But wanting to cut back doesn't mean it's easy.
06:27I also tried deleting Instagram, but somehow that didn't last very long either.
06:32I keep catching myself opening it in the browser, even though I don't have the app anymore.
06:37Just a quick peek.
06:38In a 2025 German survey, 56% of 14 to 20 year olds said they wanted to spend less time
06:44on social media, but struggled to do so.
06:46So, what does it actually take to change a habit that's become part of everyday life?
06:52Just doing one thing probably isn't enough.
06:55It helps to combine different approaches.
06:57That could mean setting app limits after a certain amount of time or turning off notifications.
07:07If we want to avoid using our phones too much, we can put them somewhere else.
07:12We can make a conscious effort to be more present in social situations and talk more with people around us.
07:18And we can deliberately make time for hobbies we find more rewarding than scrolling.
07:28I try to avoid screens after 10pm.
07:30No phones, no TV.
07:32If I get bored, I read a book.
07:34Trying not to look at it when I wake up in the morning.
07:37Like, go first outside, look out a window, or have your moment in the morning before you go right away
07:42on there.
07:44Being out in nature is good for me.
07:46When I'm in nature, I immediately notice that I think about my phone less.
07:51We can change our own habits.
07:53But if apps are designed to keep us scrolling, shouldn't the companies behind them do something about that too?
07:59I think holding platforms accountable for the impact they have on users is an important step.
08:05That means not waiting until users are already suffering before switching off features or changing algorithms.
08:10And features that are known to significantly increase time spent on a platform could at least be made optional with
08:18better default settings.
08:25Giving us more control over how these platforms work could help us decide how we actually want to use them.
08:31For now, I'm starting with something I can actually control today.
08:34As a journalist, staying informed is part of my job.
08:37But checking one last headline before bed can easily turn into an hour of doom scrolling.
08:41So, I'm setting myself a daily Instagram limit.
08:44Because I'd quite like to dream about something else than breaking news tonight.
08:49So, littleiks...
08:49Playbackacja ranking.очь월's
08:51might be a ending speech with a late hour of the day. Okay, so
08:51let's do it. Playbacking
08:55gear. Playbacking
08:57gear again. Fusory!
08:57Extraordinary Jimmie?
08:57Oh, my God, my
08:57God. Playbacking gear. Playbacking
