I’ve got an exciting new free trend report for you today.

(I’ll also give you a link at the end of this email)

First some background.

Now I’m not the type to say…

“I was into this before it was even popular.”

But when it comes to the social media and smartphone backlash, it’s true!

After a brief honeymoon period with Twitter and Facebook, I ditched social media in 2016.

(Bizarrely, it was thanks to the creator of the TV show Father Ted, who publicly attacked me and got his followers to pile on… but that’s another story!)

Since then I’ve grumbled plentifully about how social media algorithms steal our attention.

As you might know from reading these newsletters, I recommend that you leave your smartphone in another room entirely before you embark on a work project.

I don’t even take my mobile phone out of the house with me most of the time (much to everyone’s amusement)..

And I’m not the only rebel in my family!

My son Zac listens to music on an old school CD player with retro orange foam headphones..

While my teenage daughter Belle has a self-imposed smartphone curfew after 8pm…

She tells me that lots of her friends have come off Instagram and TikTok…

And I’m not surprised.

Because all our kids get served these days are adverts, sponsored posts, addictive video shorts and awful preening influencers advocating extreme diets, plastic surgery or smashing your jaw in with a hammer (yes, it’s a real thing!).

Then there are the trolls, bots, extremists and conspiracy theorists spouting vitriolic garbage.

No wonder they’re switching off.

Because while the internet had so much promise in its early years, it has since been ruined by what writer Cory Doctorow calls a process of ‘enshittification’.

This is where social media platforms decline as they become dominated by companies trying to sell stuff… and algorithms that care only about holding your attention for clicks and profits, no matter what the content is like.

That’s not to say there aren’t a few successes.

For instance, email, eCommerce and Substack are all brilliant. They allow you to publish good content, find eager buyers and build a digital business from home.

But they’re among the exceptions.

For the most part, smartphones and algorithmically driven social media channels are nothing but addictive distraction machines!

Now a wave of people are now ‘catching up’ with what I’ve been moaning about for years.

Millions are turning away from social media and smartphones.

And this fast-growing trend presents you with an opportunity to create a profitable product or service!

The British Social Media Backlash Has Begun…

Last month, our (soon to be ex) Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced a social media ban.

Under proposals expected to come into force next year, social media companies will be required to prevent children under sixteen from using platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook and X.

“This is a line in the sand,” Sir Keir Starmer declared. The technology giants had been given their chance to protect children and had failed.

This comes after a wave of lawsuits, government investigations and regulatory action over the way their products affect children.

In the USA, state attorneys general have taken legal action against Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, alleging that the company knowingly used features designed to keep young people addicted to its platforms.

They’ve also accused TikTok of misleading families about the safety of its platform and of using psychologically manipulative features to encourage compulsive use.

In March 2026, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google negligent over the design of Instagram and YouTube after a woman argued that she’d become addicted to the platforms while still a child.

Just like tobacco companies, gambling businesses and food manufacturers, social media corporations are being questioned about how their products might threaten public safety.

Whatever You Think Of The Social Media Ban, One Thing Is Undeniable….

For a British government to take on some of the most powerful companies on earth, the public mood must have shifted enormously.

For years we have welcomed these devices into our lives, believing that they represent progress and convenience.

But, increasingly, evidence shows that smartphones and social media are linked to significant social and psychological problems.

After all these devices, and their apps, are deliberately designed to hook us.

The scroll that never reaches the bottom…. the urgent notification alerts… the autoplay that begins the next video whether you want it or not… the ‘pull-to-refresh; mechanisms that work the same way as a fruit machine.

Some of the cleverest minds of a generation have been paid handsomely to find ways to capture your attention and hold onto it for as long as possible.

The average person now spends almost seven hours a day staring at a screen. More than half of adults admit they feel addicted and among teenagers it is worse still.

The World Health Organization has reported that 11% of adolescents struggle to control social media use… experienced withdrawal when they could not get online… and neglect other activities.

This is only the beginning of the worry. High or problematic screen use has been linked with these problems is both adults and children:

• Poor sleep
• Anxiety
• Low life satisfaction
• Attention difficulties
• Distraction and lost productivity
• Social comparison and poor body image
• Cyberbullying and harassment
• Loneliness and isolation
• Neck, shoulder, back, wrist and hand pain
• Headaches, dry eyes and blurred vision
• Reduced physical activity
• Family conflict
• Gaming and gambling addiction
• Exposure to pornography, self-harm material, extreme dieting and dangerous online challenges
• Political polarisation, misogyny and extremist content

Now schools up and down the country are going phone-free, locking mobiles away in pouches or banning them altogether.

People are trading their smartphones for old-fashioned “dumbphones,” with sales of basic flip phones booming and Nokia bringing back its classic handsets.

‘Digital detox’ has become a buzz phrase and a ‘quiet life’ movement has sprung up, with people swapping scrolling for reading, journaling, walking and analogue hobbies.

Workplaces are introducing ‘no screen’ meetings and tech-free zones.

Holiday businesses report an increased demand for off-grid and internet-free stays.

And there’s a booming analogue economy with board games, books, vinyl records, film cameras and old-fashioned hobbies all enjoying a revival.

The Digital Burnout Boom

To show you what I mean, here is a Google Trends UK search chart for ‘digital detox’ in the past 5 years.

And here’s a worldwide one for ‘smartphone addiction’ in the same timeframe.

The recent peak you can see to the right of the chart reflects a burst of media attention around “switching off” in early 2026.

New Year coverage framed digital decluttering and reduced screen time as a wellbeing resolution. British Vogue, for example, published a prominent digital-wellbeing feature at the start of January.

Around the same time, ‘Dumbphones”’ app blockers, phone-free events and offline social clubs received growing coverage, particularly as a Gen Z reaction against compulsive scrolling.

There are other stats to back up the long-term trend.

A 2025 EY survey of 2,500 UK consumers found that:

• 38% were concerned about excessive screen time and were interested in a “digital detox”.
• 41% of UK households were concerned about the amount of screen time in the home.
• Among 18–34-year-olds, 47% said their online activities were more disruptive than beneficial to their wellbeing.

Deloitte’s 2025 survey of 4,150 UK consumers found the following:

• 50% had turned off all notifications for at least one app.
• 18% had introduced new screen-time limits.
• 20% had deleted a social-media app during the previous year.

Of those deleting social apps…

• 25% said the app consumed too much of their time.
• 20% cited a negative effect on their mental health.

Of those surveyed, 35% planned not to buy a new digital device during the following 12 months.

Yet despite this, digital use is still increasing.

Ofcom reported that UK adults spent an average of four and a half hours online each day in 2025, ten minutes more than the previous year.

Most of that time was spent on smartphones, and the average adult used 41 different smartphone apps a month.

So there is a big market of people who are going to need help with their phone and internet habits.

And this has created a huge number of opportunities for a side business.

The Opportunity in a Nutshell

The backlash against screens and smartphones has begun and millions of adults want their attention back.

They want to rid themselves of addiction and bad habits…. sleep without a phone beside the pillow…. read a book or do the gardening without checking messages.

They want to regain their powers of concentration and focus… connect more deeply with friends, family, neighbours and their partners….

They want to reduce anxiety… improve sleep…avoid physical pain… and reduce eye damage.

They want to protect their children and keep them safe.

And there is plenty of scope to provide information, tools and physical products that provide this.

But people are also looking for alternatives to digital tools and entertainment that will engage their minds and bodies.

So this is not only about switching screens off.

It’s also about filling the space digital phones leave behind with analogue tech like clocks and wristwatches… offline retreats and events… hobbies and crafts.

To show you what’s possible, I’ve put together a full report into the Digital Burnout Boom on the new What Really Makes Money Substack.

It includes a full list of all the sub-trends and niches that you could tap into to create a product or service.

Key areas include:

• Helping people break the addiction and reclaim their focus.
• Helping people sleep, calm down and ease the aches that screens have caused.
• Helping parents and families get through challenges and worries.
• Cutting through the panic and the conflicting advice.
• Selling the hobbies, objects and simple pleasures that replace the screen.

Please do go and take a look.

Hopefully you’ll find the kernel of a great little business idea in there!

Click here to read the free Mega Trend Report now.