Silicon Valley Refugee Drops iPhone For Toy Flip Phone Heroics
Meet Gabriela Nguyen, 24, the Silicon Valley native who said 'no thanks' to Zuckerberg's siren call. After a childhood fueled by iPods, Facebook at age 10, and zooming through Instagram reels with all the focus of a goldfish on Red Bull, she switched to a Cat S22 flip phone at 23āa clunky beacon of hope in an ocean of dopamine traps. Before turning 24, she dropped the apps altogether for a Light Phone with zero internet, inspiring Harvardās Appstinence movement and hosting NYCās Delete Day where 80 brave souls suicided their socials. Dad, a Vietnamese refugee, banned TV as 'propaganda,' probably predicting TikTok anyway. Gabriela traded virtual FOMO for IRL LOLs and social depth, declaring the pandemic 'just a worse version of my online life.' Flip phones: saving brains since forever.
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Young Silicon Valley tech warrior ditches iPhone for a flip phone and a āLight Phoneā because apparently, ignoring the entire internet is the ultimate glow-up.
Kids these days are quitting social media like itās a bad Tinder date and opting for flip phones programmed with 'Do Not Disturb' by defaultāBurning man went extinct but Appstinence just went viral.
From Facebook at 10 to losing apps like a bad ex, Gabrielaās smartphone detox screams Gen Z but hey, at least her selfies got unsubscribed.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 10/17/2025 | Author: Julia Pugachevsky
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