Is Gen Z quitting social media for good?

There was a time when social media felt electric—a living scrapbook of friendships, photo dumps, inside jokes, and messy oversharing. But somewhere between the constant algorithm drama, the ad-choked timelines, and the pressure to curate the perfect life, the vibe shifted. Now, more people, especially the younger generation, are embracing what studies have begun calling “Posting Zero”.

What is it? It's simply the decision to log out of social media for good, or to show up online without actually posting anything at all. They still lurk, scroll, and double-tap sometimes, but their own grids remain untouched for months, even years.

There are entire friend groups that haven’t logged into Facebook since college, while Instagram profiles sit frozen in 2019, like digital time capsules. And layered on top of it all is a strange new reality: the internet feels louder than ever, but there aren't enough humans speaking. Just the bots.

Why people are logging off

A lot of this comes down to burnout. Posting feels like work. Algorithms change every two minutes, and constantly comparing your life to everyone else’s highlight reel is draining. Even if you are not posting, opening social media means ads spamming your feed, AI-generated content nobody asked for, and comment sections under even the most meaningful posts filled with creepy bots.

A recent study published in The Financial Times surveyed as many as 2,50,000 online users across 50 countries and concluded that social media usage has fallen by nearly 10 per cent, and this decline is mainly led by Gen Z. 

With real people posting less, bots have stepped in to fill the silence. And it shows. Comment sections are full of identical emojis, random crypto spam, or accounts that clearly aren’t human. It makes scrolling feel weird, like the party is still happening, but nearly all the guests are fake.

This surge in AI-led content on social media is one of the major factors driving the Posting Zero phenomenon. It ties into the “Dead Internet Theory”—the idea that the internet, once a place for real people and real ideas, is now flooded with AI tools, automation, and bot-generated noise. The internet seems to have lost its 'human touch'.

If Posting Zero keeps growing, social media may shift into something totally different—a place that’s more branded, more artificial, and way less personal. The everyday chaos and casual updates that once made these platforms feel alive are fading, replaced by curated content and bot-like engagement that doesn’t feel human at all.

But maybe that’s exactly why people are choosing the quiet. In a world where everything is algorithm-tested, not posting or quitting the platforms altogether feels like taking back control. Staying quiet isn’t a statement anymore; it’s just how people want to exist online now.

Lead image: Netflix

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