Young people are turning away from phones in favor of analog hobbies, according to interviews with hobbyists and a psychology professor, with many describing the activities as a way to interrupt stress and limit “doomscrolling.” One of the hobbyists, Emma MacTaggart, said she noticed by her early 20s that her free time was scarce and rarely screen-free. She worked long hours in investment banking, then reached for her phone after work; she and roommates then looked for something tactile that could break the habit.
MacTaggart said the group became “hooked” on needlepoint, a craft she had learned briefly from relatives as a child but had not picked up for years. She described needlepoint as “a really therapeutic way to kind of distract yourself from either work or stress” and as “just do something with your hands instead of doomscrolling,” adding, “We became completely obsessed.” Now 26, she runs the needlepoint business What’s the Stitch and posts content under the same name on social media, saying that interest in her posts helped her build a business selling canvases, accessories and digital designs.
Some of the hobbies have been grouped online under the label “grandma hobbies,” but other activities have gained traction with Gen Z and millennials as well, including pottery, origami and even blacksmithing, the interviews said. MacTaggart said she does not view herself as especially crafty, but said she puts a “young spin” on a craft that is “historically buttoned up,” sometimes with cheeky humor and occasional profanity.
Jaime Kurtz, a psychology professor at James Madison University who studies happiness, said many such activities can reduce anxiety and stress and provide a sense of accomplishment because they require focus and can be challenging. Kurtz said, “Hobbies are really important, and a lot of us have lost them, or we just don’t prioritize them enough, or we think we’re too busy,” while adding, “But just finding little bits of time to carve out to do these kinds of things is a really wise use of time.”
Others described hobby time as a way to block out the rest of the world. Clara Sherman, who co-founded So Bam Fun to bring mahjong to a younger audience, said that when she plays with friends she reaches a “zen state,” describing the feeling as being “in this little bubble of just myself, my friends and this game we’re all enjoying together,” and saying it helps her “shut off the rest of the world.”
Not all hobbyists see their interests as purely rejecting technology. Isaiah Scott, a birdwatcher, artist and content creator based in Savannah, Georgia, said that the birding app eBird is a key part of his experience because it lets him log and track observations while also contributing to scientific research and conservation. Scott said it can be easy to describe his generation as “glued to their phones,” but he said access to technology “opens so many doors to get involved in hobbies that may have been forgotten about or (are) just difficult to get into otherwise.”
Scott likened bird watching to the Pokémon games he enjoyed growing up, saying: “It feels like a video game, but in real life.” He said traveling to different regions works like unlocking new maps and that seeing many species can feel like reaching a high score, adding that he has seen about 800 different species. Scott also said birdwatching set him on a mission to “protect and to conserve our natural world,” leading him to found the nonprofit Rookery and Roots Conservancy and purchase a 16-acre parcel of land in Rincon, Georgia, to safeguard wildlife habitat.
For some analog-hobby businesses, social media has helped expand audiences internationally. Anna Weare, known online as AnvilAnna, said she is a full-time blacksmith and farrier and that TikTok and other platforms brought international reach and enthusiasm after she started posting videos. Weare said she thinks renewed interest in blacksmithing and other old crafts may reflect fatigue with a hyper-digitalized world and poorly made products, and she described a waitlist for her one-piece spurs—citing their durability and rarity—as about a year long.
Weare said, “People, now more than ever, are realizing that things made in factories or mass produced, they wear out so quickly,” and added that people “want longevity, and this craft has been around for so long for a reason.” Kristie Landing, who created Verse & Sip, said her platform brings poets and poetry lovers together while she posts videos online of letter writing, letter locking, wax seals and origami.
Landing said her online audience is active and asks practical questions about tools and materials while also seeking connection with each other. She said she started a pen pal matching service after receiving comments from followers who wanted to swap letters, including people who would appreciate the care put into physical communications or admire the penmanship. She also created the Verse & Sip Mail Club, sending an original poem and a tea monthly to “a couple of hundred people across the globe,” describing her goal as creating “slower moments” on platforms where videos are often “based on really quick, short attention span kind of videos.”
Many of the hobbyists interviewed said they view their activities as an intentional embrace of the analog world rather than a temporary trend. On the “grandma hobbies” label itself, MacTaggart said she welcomes the connection, joking with friends that she has been “a grandma my whole life,” and saying, “so it’s only fitting that this is now my career.”