When Danica Day started her senior year at Temple, she had spent more than a decade of her life with an iPhone. But the past couple of years haven’t exactly been a happy coupling.
When screen time limits and determination didn’t suffice, Day took a radical approach to eliminate her smartphone dependence and switched to a flip phone.
“I’ve been wanting to get off social media for so long, I just didn’t have the self-control,” said Day, a senior journalism major. “I had to take drastic measures.”
Day’s philosophy aligns with the Luddite movement, a term originating from early 19th-century skilled craftsmen who criticized mechanized manufacturers in textile industries. In modern times, a Luddite passively abandons technology and advocates for simple living. The movement has found a new home among Temple students like Day in the university’s own Luddite Club For Meaningful Connections.
Day ditched her smartphone for a “dumbphone” to get offline and be more productive — a typical practice for a new-age Luddite. Dumbphones are what some call any mobile phone lacking the advanced functions that characterize smartphones. Day uses a flip phone, while others use smartphones with user modifications to limit capabilities.
“I was in fifth or sixth grade when I got a smartphone for the first time,” Day said. “I feel like there could have been a happy medium there that just didn’t really exist.”
Some students feel that spending less time on a smartphone helps them to regain control of their time. For Day, this means taking care of her mind through activities like reading or coloring.
Tess Davis recently joined Temple’s Luddite Club, aiming to reexamine her relationship with smartphones and spend time with students eager to do the same.
“I feel like you create more of an identity for yourself if you don’t have a smartphone,” said Davis, an undecided freshman. “People aren’t bored anymore. People don’t channel their boredom into anything creative or productive. They just go on Instagram and then they can just scroll forever.”
The average Generation Z smartphone user spends six hours a day on their phone and 56% of them say they feel addicted to their phone, according to a December 2024 study by Harmony Healthcare IT, a data management firm for healthcare organizations.
As a new member, Davis believes fellow Luddite Club members will give insight into understated aspects of social media’s negative effects.
“[Luddite Club members] just want to be more conscious about their use of technology,” Davis said. “The main thing that excites me about the club is the conversations and the way that people will be able to talk about their own experiences with technology and what they’re doing.”
While some students believe smartphones are necessary to remain connected, others think they would benefit from going without.
Not all students are inclined to give up their smartphones. Some express that having a smartphone is an important tool for meeting new people and a major pillar of their social lives.
Katana Santiago, a freshman psychology and neuroscience double major, discovered her roommate on social media. She does not believe their paths would have crossed if she used a different method, like a random roommate assignment.
Santiago also believes smartphones can be more useful than their “dumb” counterparts during emergencies.
In January, California experienced wildfires that displaced around 200,000 people. Citizens were evacuated at high speeds as the fires proved to be extremely destructive.
“I have family who lost their home in the fires, and the only form of technology they had was a flip phone,” Santiago said. “They didn’t have any news or anything. It’s really important for us to have news on hand so we don’t have to be at home watching TV.”
Even for dumbphone users, a mobile phone revolution is a distant future, as smartphones have features necessary to modern life.
“It would be super cool if all of my friends sold their phone and could dedicate more time to just talking in person,” Day said. “But I know that’s not realistic for a lot of people. If you’re someone that can be responsible and monitor your screen time, then there’s really no reason to do something as extreme as selling your phone.”
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