LOG OFF: A Generation Pushing Back Against Always-Online Culture

I was twelve years old when I created my first social media account. I remember being the last of my friends allowed on Instagram, watching as screens slowly replaced games of tag and conversations on the playground. At the time, these platforms felt almost magical. As a girl growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, it seemed like social media could expand my world—making it more connected, expressive, and open than anything I had known before. It felt like the world was finally at my fingertips.

But as my screen time grew, that sense of wonder faded. What I came to understand was that social media was not magic—it was a carefully engineered illusion, designed to capture and hold my attention, often at the expense of my well-being. As the hours I spent online increased, my mental and physical health began to deteriorate. My sense of self became quantified by likes, comments, and followers. Exposure to unrealistic body standards and harmful content distorted the way I saw myself and my worth. Even when the harm was clear, features like endless scroll and autoplay kept pulling me back. My experience is not unique. It is a reflection of what it means to grow up as part of Generation Z—inside systems we did not design, could not consent to, and are only now beginning to fully understand.

We as young people are so absorbed into these digital worlds, that we don’t even realize how much it is taking out of us and so many of our peers. What if young people realized the reality behind their excessive social media usage? What if they realized how there are systems that are intentionally designed to capture our attention so that it can be exploited for profit?

When I started asking questions about my screen time was when I decided to found the LOG OFF Movement. Things started to change with my digital habits when I found this community of young people, all with similar experiences online, who decided to come together, talk about it, and take action.

I founded LOG OFF as a way to respond to my own experience growing up online. LOG OFF challenges the way young people think about their relationships with social media and technology. This youth-led movement brings together digital natives who are questioning the status quo, and equips them with the tools, community, and support to rebuild healthier tech habits and drive change in their communities.

At LOG OFF, we are empowering young people to reevaluate the way we engage with our devices. We’re doing this through programming that builds a common knowledge base and supports resources to act upon it.

For many young people, the first step isn’t logging off, but rather, recognizing how deeply digital life has shaped the way we think, feel, and relate to others. That’s why we created The Feed.

Rather than offering prescriptions, The Feed gives young people a place to reflect honestly on their digital lives: the pressure to share only the highlights, the exhaustion of constant comparison, and the quiet relief of stepping away. We’ve brought together a team of young writers from around the world to elevate these stories. In sharing these experiences and exploring these topics, unplugging stops being a private struggle and starts becoming a shared language.

We are also creating resources that provide different ways to think and act on our digital habits. This includes presentations, activities, or guides. We realize there is no one-size-fits-all solution to problematic screen time. That’s why we empower individuals to take action in ways that match their needs.

It may seem odd that I shared my personal story in what you can now see is essentially a pitch for LOG OFF. I don’t share my story because it’s unique. In fact, it’s the opposite. I share it because it’s ordinary. I’m part of a generation that grew up inside systems we didn’t design, couldn’t consent to, and were never warned about. Now, we’re being asked to find a way out of a problem that was engineered into our daily lives.

LOG OFF isn’t about rejecting social media or technology or turning back the clock. We’re about restoring agency. It’s about giving young people the language to name what’s happening to them and the community to support them as they decide what kind of relationship they want with their devices.

This isn’t about logging off — it’s about taking our power back.

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Emma Lembke is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the LOG OFF Movement. She additionally serves as the Director of Gen Z Advocacy at the Sustainable Media Center.