Last week, I published an essay about the so-called Great Lock In of 2025, a TikTok challenge that asks participants to tackle self-improvement goals. I argued that this trend was positive, especially for Gen Z, because the more you take control of your real life, the easier it becomes to take control of your screens.
In response, I received an interesting note from a reader. “The biggest challenge with this useful goal Gen Z is pursuing,” he wrote, “is they don’t know what to do.”
As he then elaborates:
“Most of them are chasing shiny objects that others are showing whether on social media or in real life. And when they (quickly) realize it’s not what they want, they leave and jump on to something else…this has been a common problem across generations. But Gen Z, and youngsters after it, are making things worse by scrolling through social media hoping to find their purpose by accident (or by someone telling them what they should do).”
Here we encounter one of the most insidious defense mechanisms that modern distraction technology deploys. By narrowing its users’ world to ultra-purified engagement, these platforms present a fun-house mirror distortion of what self-improvement means: shredded gym dwellers, million-subscriber YouTube channels, pre-dawn morning routines. Because these “shiny” goals are largely unattainable or unsustainable, those motivated to make changes eventually give up and return to the numbing comfort of their screens.
By alienating its users from the real world, these technologies make it difficult for them to ever escape the digital. To succeed with the Great Lock In, we need to resolve the Great Alienation.
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At the moment, I’m in the early stages of writing a book titled The Deep Life. It focuses on the practical mechanisms involved in discerning what you want your life to be like and how to make steady progress toward these visions.
At first glance, this might seem like an odd book for me to write, given that my work focuses primarily on technology’s impacts and how best to respond to them. When we observe something like Gen Z’s struggles with the Great Lock In, however, it becomes clear that this book’s topic actually has a lot to do with our devices. Figuring out how to push back on the digital will require more attention paid to improving the analog.
Excellent read, Cal. As a father of two teenage daughters, the issue of doomscrolling is a significant concern for me. The idea of boredom or daydreaming has been eliminated. Oftentimes, my 12-year-old goes through a mini panic attack when I ask her to hand over her phone for the night.
However, I wasn’t aware that Gen Z was searching for purpose on these platforms.
I got my first computer at the age of 34 (1979) and discovered it was a “screwdriver”. That is a tool with some very specific jobs. Over time it has expanded the range of tasks it can do for me but it’s still just a tool. Perhaps teaching young people to use computers the same way they did for my children will move it back from the “entertainment” block to the tool block.
Anyone who’s been reading and listening to you long enough is not surprised by the title of your next book. 🙂
Assuming we have basic needs met (giant assumption, I agree), leading a rich, meaningful life is something people in every generation long for. And modern distraction technology is a major impediment. But it’s a symptom not a cause, one of many. Therefore, let’s go deeper. And let’s do it wisely.
Many people (including me!!) think they have the key to unlock practical, attainable meaning and a rich, real, rewarding life. Some point toward religious practice. Others have more secular formulas. Some seem deep, some seem shallow, some show up on TikTok. But all of us face what I think is the prime obstacle: meaning comes from within each person for themselves. No matter how good my models or intention, I cannot give you a formula, model, or the “top 10 things you’re ignoring and must do today” to stop the death-scrolling, the consumerism, etc. and shift to a more meaningful life.
But we can still help. We can first find meaning for ourselves. Then we can share our experiences and models–with the caveat that these are incomplete and that meaning has to come from inside them. We can believe in each other’s abilities to figure this out (sometimes more than they believe it themselves). And we can listen.
I love that you are writing a book called “The Deep Life.” I can’t wait to read your takes and recommendations.
Mr. Newport,
Your books and articles seem to be circling closer and closer to that third rail of cultural discourse – the need for genuine religious depth and revival.
The shallow cult of hyper-individualism has lost it’s luster in a post-enlightenment world.
Mr. McLuhan was correct about our mediums, and the term medium is a highly ironic word.
CS Lewis predicted all of this in his last lecture in the Abolition of Man.
I wish you all the best and Godspeed in your mission to try and bring us back to a bit of sanity.
Respectfully,
CM
Good insight. I can see how my now older kids struggled with this and are still effected by it.
Interesting topic for your new book. My view is that the digital, the physical and the biologicial are intertwined. Ideas in the head are instantiated when we write a post or a mail and can affect all parts of life.
A side issue, how about calling it the “physical world” instead of the “real world”? It is in contrast to the “digital world” which is also real but of a different nature.
Hey Mr Newport!
I found this to be pretty interesting, I am a 22 year old who could be considered phone and social media dependent since age 13 or 14.
Being on social media all the time made me realize how different my perspective in life was turning and also how anxiety would increase every time that I was away from any electronic device. And I’ve tried to get over it for 3 years.
Now, I guess I am just bored.
I have a simple app blocker – one of many that I paid and bypass – and I guess that social media is not that fun anymore for everyone. I don’t think anyone can say that he or she enjoy scroll on Instagram.
People compare pulling your phone while waiting on the line or random moments with smoking a cig on a work break. But honestly, I think a cig could be may more enjoyable – as long as you don’t both smoke and scroll on your phone.
Since I had something to pursuit (in my case, learning software developing while trying to be a BJJ athlete and being independent “adult”), I think that my life and motions depend way more on my internal decisions rather than an ad on Instagram.
But even if I wouldn’t have something to chase, I think that I will know for a fact that social media is not as fun like it was before and we are all waiting for the next thing to replace it.
In my case, using a modded blackberry, simple hobbies, work with good music, training uninterrupted, reading on the train has helped me.
My point is that, now a is a good time to try to get over the phone addiction and “lock in”, because a bunch of “bored momentum” has accumulated since we all agree that social media, ads and consumerism have depleted our brains.
I still remember you wrote in Deep Work that “A deep life is a good life.” —> a strong statement 🙂
Would love to read about your underlying belief [as/if an in-person chat is not possible].
One of my former line managers said to me: You live with what you believe in.
Good post. Similar observation I’ve had when people want to make a career change. The reason they get stuck, sometimes for years, with their inertia’d existence is not because they’re *unable* to change (i.e. repeatedly rejected, since the bar to stand out is getting lowered by the day), but rather that doomscrolling isn’t just inaction, it’s almost “anti-action.”
Instead of telling someone to get off their phone and go do three hours of meaningful work on making a career change, step one is just to do *anything* analog to rebuild confidence and overcome the initial social anxiety. Reminds me of your idea in Digital Minimalism: it’s not enough to subtract screens–an existential vacuum takes hold. We must fill the void with analog, and the act of starting builds confidence. Connection (and career confidence) is nothing more than a long string of days in which we replace the digital with analog