How people are getting OFF their smartphones

16 May, 2026

Yes, it’s happening. Across the globe people have been taking steps to get OFF their smartphones, reclaim time and improve the quality of their lives.

Here’s how.

In February this year, over 1.3 million people from 54 countries around the globe accepted the OFF February challenge to switch off social media and switch on life instead.

They did this by deleting social media apps from their phones for the month of February, freeing up around 1 hour 48 minutes of their time each day.

This allowed them to spend more time enjoying leisure pursuits such as reading (80%), spending more time with family (42%) and friends (28%), sleeping and resting more (42%), and exercising (36%).

It also improved their quality of life. 95% of participants reported that taking part in the challenge had a positive impact on their physical well-being, their ability to concentrate, their mood or the quality of their relationships with their loved ones.

The social media apps that were most deleted were Instagram (80%) and Facebook (approx 58%).

Many participants reported that it was easier to delete their social media apps than they had expected, with 85% of participants making it to the end of the challenge without reinstalling any apps at all.

According to the OFF February organisers, there are ongoing benefits from taking part in the challenge.

·         43% decided to limit their social media activity in the future

·         34% decided not to reinstall any social media apps at all

·         20% decided to reinstall only a few social media apps;

·         Only 3% reinstalled all their social media apps.

This shows that ‘OFF February is not just about disconnecting: it is a transformative experience capable of opening up conversations, encouraging intentionality in the use of digital technology, and showing that living a hyperconnected life is not inevitable,’ the organisers say. 

‘The success of the project shows that people are ready and willing to reclaim their time from social media and improve their quality of life,’ said Lyn McLean from EMR Australia, a project partner of OFF February.

You can download the OFF February report and/or express interest in the next OFF February event at: www.offm.org/en/off-february/barometer-2026?utm_campaign=3b4fa308-7908-4c4d-b24d-969052d35dac&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&cid=c58c50f0-fa8f-468a-b27b-813c9eb2b8d7

See the video about the OFF February experience at:. https://vimeo.com/1184743906?autoplay=1&muted=1&stream_id=Y2xpcHN8MjE1Njg3MTMxfGlkOmRlc2N8W10%3D