Ultra connected, glued to the smartphone and social networks, the Gen Z However, he is starting to slow down. In France, a study of‘INSEE already indicated in 2024 that‘around a third of Internet users experience at least one harmful effect from screens, and those under 20 are the most affected. Fatigue, irritability, broken sleep, difficulty concentrating‘accumulate.
This saturation gives rise to a need for a “digital break” which results in digital withdrawal, days without networks, or even a return to simpler devices. Overwhelmed by screens, does Generation Z really want to unplug, or are they mainly looking for a new way of living with technology?
Gen Z: why does the most connected generation want to disconnect?
Born between the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2010s, Generation Z grew up with smartphones in their pockets and homework on screen. However, many say stop. “It is above all, in my opinion, a structural fatigue, linked to uses, therefore a technological overflow”, analyzes the professor Matthew Alemany Oliver at TF1info. The figures cited by‘INSEE are moving in this direction: 57% of those under 20 say they feel the negative effects of screens.
For the‘teacher, the‘Intensive use of connected objects creates real “cognitive overstimulation”. Too many notifications, short videos, and parallel chats saturate working memory. Result: difficulty prioritizing information, mental fatigue, drop in performance as soon as‘a task requires a little concentration, whether in class, in revision or at work.
Digital detox and old devices: how does Generation Z organize their digital disconnection?
Faced with this unease, some young people cut off the networks, sometimes suddenly. “I felt bad after each use, stopping relieved me of a huge weight,” confided a student to Le Monde. This “digital break” allows you to escape the reflex of infinite scrolling and constant comparison, time to regain a minimum of control over your attention.
Another strong sign of the movement: the return to‘analog. TF1info notes the renewed popularity of‘iPodwhich allows‘listen to music without internet. “Old technologies are a response to digital saturation,” says Mathieu Alemany Oliver. Limited storage, absence of notifications, obligation to “work” on your playlist: everything encourages more intentional uses. In the same spirit, “dumbphones” and other evening “bigos”, without social apps, are gaining ground among those under 25.
Total disconnection or new pact with screens for Gen Z?
Would cutting permanently even be possible? The same professor recalls that “the telephone is the subject of a real social dependence” and that “we have a form of addiction here”. Class groups, schedules, professional exchanges, love life, hobbies: everything goes through the smartphone. Most young people therefore juggle personal digital weaning rules rather than a clean break.
For Mathieu Alemany Oliver, this desire to switch off can lead to an “emancipatory relationship” with screens, with “more regulation, with technology that requires more intentionality on the part of users and an increase in digital well-being”. When he asks his students‘they would like to live in the 1980s, they answer yes, evoking “the social bond and the impression of time passing more slowly”. Behind this fantasized nostalgia, the Gen Z do not reject tech: it tries to‘impose a more human rhythm on an environment that has become too invasive.