The Digital Detox Movement Goes Mainstream

2026 is being called "the year of analog" across social media. There’s a shift happening, moving away from a temporary digital detox to a more overarching lifestyle change. What we’re seeing is a cultural response to digital burnout, AI fatigue, and the loss of intentionality. The new Analog trend is seeing creators approaching content creation through a more humanistic approach. 

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What Exactly is the Analog Trend?

The Analog trend is defined as a movement towards embracing physical and tactile experiences over digital ones. It’s not anti-technology (that’s still the foundation it’s built upon), but there’s more intention behind the use of technology and the way we move through the digital landscape. There’s a growing philosophy centered around slow living, mindfulness, and a return to physical creation. 

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The Perfect Storm Driving the Movement

Data from Statista suggests that social media usage peaked in 2023, but has been in decline ever since. The decline is mostly seen among Gen Z and users in their 20s, the audiences once known as social media’s growth engine. This is partly due to the over-saturation of repetitive, AI-generated content we’re tired of seeing. Users have also felt a loss of ownership over their digital journeys; instead of seeing friends on social media, we’re fed with what the algorithm anticipates will perform best. Lastly, there’s a mass dopamine problem, and users are stuck in an endless scrolling loop. We know that doom-scrolling and brainrot content isn’t productive, but there’s no question that it’s hard to step away.

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"Going Analog" in Action

You can see this trend in action through people dumping smartphones for flip phones, journaling versus your Notes app, and taking to film cameras instead of iPhone cameras. Other examples include:

• Physical media renaissance (books, vinyl)
• Handwriting and journaling (planners, scrapbooks, snail mail)
• Tactile hobbies (knitting, puzzles, board games, pottery)
• Phone-free social activities (run clubs, book clubs, game nights, sports leagues)
• Misogi challenge (one difficult analog challenge per year)

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Embracing Analog Living 

Embracing the analog trend doesn’t mean you need to overhaul your lifestyle. You can start small–put time limit controls on social apps to keep your screen time intentional, or have morning phone-free time. Simple swaps like a physical alarm clock, paper planner, and post-it note reminders can help remove some dependence on our phones. Embracing this trend is meant to put a focus on intention over perfection. There is still room for content creation within this trend too; just with a different approach. 

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Not Just Another Trend

We’re being faced with a major reevaluation of our relationship with technology. How do we find a balance? We don't want to abandon social media presence and digital life completely, but so far we can see that 2026 is marking a turning point in the way we create and consume content.

Embracing analog living in your social strategy is a key step in ensuring that your content continues to resonate with audiences. They don’t want repetitive, AI-written, generic content. Audiences want to see you–your personality, your viewpoints, interests, and intention behind what you create.  

Try a new analog trend this month. Pick up a hobby that gets you away from the screen (check out our Touch Grass: Hobby Edition post for inspiration), document your journey authentically, and share it with your audience. Want to gamify your analog activities? Our punchcard templates can help you track your progress while keeping things fun and tangible.

Use Planoly’s Social Planner to schedule these more intentional, personality-driven posts in advance so you can spend less time glued to your phone and more time actually living the analog experiences you’re sharing. Get inspired, and create a piece of content or campaign that pulls back the curtain and shows your audience there’s more than just a polished grid.