{"id":1408895,"date":"2026-01-23T14:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T11:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1408895"},"modified":"2026-01-23T14:11:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T11:11:00","slug":"is-2026-the-year-we-all-go-analogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1408895","title":{"rendered":"Is 2026 the year we all go analogue?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s January again, which means people are taking to social media to share their plans to reduce screen time and become less dependent on their devices this year. But this time around, people seem to be taking their resolutions more seriously than usual, with some optimistically declaring 2026 the \u2018year of analogue\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

TikTok posts sharing <\/span>how-to guides<\/span><\/a>, mini explainers for analogue habits, and <\/span>inspirational montages<\/span><\/a> showcasing what you could be doing offline have already racked up <\/span>thousands of views<\/span><\/a>. Many <\/span>#analogue<\/span><\/a> posts recommend Luddite-friendly swaps: a digital camera instead of an iPhone; writing thoughts down in a journal and not the Notes app; trading Spotify\u2019s AI-powered recommendations for an iPod with a self-curated playlist; becoming part of a snail mail group instead of lost meet-up promises in group chats. Others have started creating \u2018<\/span>analogue bags<\/span><\/a>\u2019, which hold all the essentials (puzzle books, knitting, magazines, sketchbooks) needed to combat online dependency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Young people have been desperate to break free from their smartphone addictions for years now \u2013 so to some extent, the analogue trend is nothing new. But at the same time, it seems to be striking a chord. \u201cFor me, this doesn\u2019t really feel like a trend,\u201d <\/span>content creator Raphaela<\/span><\/a> tells Dazed. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve always done, but have tried to implement into my life even more recently.\u201d Loni, who runs the account <\/span>@whimsical.daydreamer<\/span><\/a>, has also been sharing her analogue reawakening with her online following. \u201cIt began as a desire for balance,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to reject the digital world entirely; I just wanted to stop being consumed by it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s this cumulative exhaustion with the digital world, the burnout from online overstimulation and the depressing proliferation of AI that has led to the explosion of interest in going analogue. It\u2019s not surprising when, according to the UK telecoms regulator <\/span>Ofcom<\/span><\/a>, the average young adult (18-24 years old) spends six hours and 20 minutes of their personal time on screens. On top of that, people don\u2019t feel good about their online experiences. The same report details that only 29 per cent of adults felt that being online positively affects their mental health, down from 33 per cent in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the algorithmic economy that sees our attention as a product sold to advertisers to hold our eyeballs on screens as long as possible,\u201d <\/span>Dr Kaitlyn Regehr, <\/span>Associate Professor at UCL and author of <\/span>Smartphone Nation: Why We’re All Addicted to Screens and What You Can Do About It<\/span><\/em>, muses. \u201cSo much of [the analogue lifestyle] is about trying to become more intentional about usage, making technology work for us in the way we want it to function, and ultimately bringing our focus back towards the collective from this individualistic way of being.\u201d <\/span>Regehr theorises that the push against digital dependency in the attention economy will look like an attitude shift between generations, likening obsessive screen use to \u201c<\/span>smoking in hospital delivery rooms \u2013 something that\u2019s wildly outdated and unhealthy.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The analogue trend \u2013 or lifestyle change \u2013 embraces the idea of slow living, encouraging people to focus on intentionality and reevaluate their overreliance on digital technologies. The rhythms of analogue life seem softer: the whoosh of turning paper pages and the comforting crackle of a vinyl player, rather than the persistent pings and chirps of notifications. This idea resonates with Loni. \u201cThe movement is showing a desire to slow down, reclaim focus, and engage more meaningfully with both life and technology,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

The trend isn\u2019t without its issues. For starters, it\u2019s worth questioning whether this is another instance of overconsumption masquerading as wellness. On the one hand, it\u2019s difficult to begrudge someone the pleasure of splashing out on a fun new jigsaw, magazine, or puzzle book \u2013 but at the same time, there is the implication that to succeed at going analogue, you must first buy a bunch of new things.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201c<\/span>It\u2019s comparable to healthy eating movements of the past; to eat healthily tends to cost more money. The criticism around these choices being middle-class or privileged is justified.\u201d<\/span> Regehr says of the barriers to analogue living. <\/span>\u201cWe used to think about wealth and equality within the digital space as being about who had access to technology and who didn\u2019t. We don\u2019t speak that way anymore. We actually talk about who is able to exist without that technology and who isn’t.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Loni notes that the switch to analogue can include workarounds that widen accessibility and limit overconsumption: \u201cWhen it\u2019s rooted in sustainability, shopping second hand, using what you have, trading with friends, and making things handmade, [analogue] can be gentler on the environment than nonstop tech use, which relies on energy-heavy infrastructure and frequent upgrades.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet perhaps the most pressing criticism that underpins the analogue movement is the way in which promoters of analogue life ironically promote their lifestyle <\/span>online<\/span><\/em>. It\u2019s a hard circle to square: surely life offline can\u2019t be all that great, if its biggest proponents are still posting about it? Surely, for the analogue lifestyle to truly succeed, the trend must die?<\/span><\/p>\n

However, for those creating and consuming analogue-related posts, it\u2019s not so simple. \u201cIt\u2019s not about abandoning digital spaces, it\u2019s about using them with intention and creating rather than just consuming,\u201d says Loni. \u201cPosting and creating still feel meaningful to me, but I\u2019ve become more selective about how and why I engage and share.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Realistically, it is unlikely there will be a mass exodus from social media just because of this new trend. But, as Loni notes, perhaps it is more of a kick-starting drive for a truly thoughtful reassessment of how screens dictate our social lives, viewing habits and attention. Raphaela feels similarly. \u201cI think it\u2019s great that people are seeing that this kind of lifestyle is more than possible even nowadays,\u201d she says. \u201cEven though I do think it\u2019s a bit ironic that I have to spread this message across my social media\u2026 I should start putting up posters!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69449\/1\/is-2026-the-year-of-analogue-tiktok-trend-social-media-offline<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s January again, which means people are taking to social media to share their plans to reduce screen time and become less dependent on their devices this year. But this time around, people seem to be taking their resolutions more seriously than usual, with some optimistically declaring 2026 the \u2018year of analogue\u2019. TikTok posts sharing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-1408895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1408895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1408895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1408895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1408895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}