Voting With Your Thumbs

The Hotpot | February 2026 | By Lisanne

8.2

For the first time in history, the social-media curve among kids is no longer climbing.

It’s flattening.

A GWI analysis for the Financial Times reveals that time spent on social media worldwide peaked in 2022 and has since dropped by nearly 10%.

Strikingly, it is young people who are leading this decline; the generation raised on infinite scroll that once made social media big now seems to have hit their ceiling on dopamine and distraction.

The interesting thing about the way social media platforms work is, when the heaviest users leave, the entire foundation begins to fracture.

Because when the youngest opt out, they create the cultural permission for everyone else to reconsider the deal.

The platforms won’t fix this. They can’t.
Their business depends on more minutes, more swipes, more likes.

However, the opportunity for creators and those who run a business is somewhat simple:

Build things that reward connection instead of addiction. Create work people seek out, not fall into. Offer meaning instead of clickbait.

Now, more than ever, engagement is what matters.

The kids are voting with their thumbs. They always have been.
Now, for the first time, they’re choosing offline experiences over screentime more often.

The question is whether we’re bold enough to follow.

Thank you for reading! The question of today:

What do you do for engagement?

Let me know in the comments!

Curious to see more reflections like this? Click through to see the rest of the series on entrepreneurship. I’d love to hear what resonates with you.