For many people, a quiet moment means an opportunity to pull out their smartphones and start doomscrolling. But for one week this semester, six University of Virginia students did something decidedly retro: They pulled out a flip phone.
The project, dubbed “UVA Unplugged,” was an initiative launched by Flash, a student organization that creates impromptu educational events to enrich the “spirit of the Academical Village.”
Yanni Aknine, a fourth-year student majoring in economics and political and social thought, led the project that he said was born from his own wrestle with digital distractions. At one point, Aknine even set his phone screen to black and white to help him focus on his surroundings.
Yanni Aknine, a fourth-year student, is the source of “UVA Unplugged,” which helps students adjust to life on Grounds, free of cellphone distractions. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Inspired by his personal struggle and seeing an online trend of people embracing old-school flip phones sans access to social media, Aknine sought to replicate that sense of focus on a larger scale.
“I was just thinking that it’s such a spontaneous, fun thing that would help people kind of learn more about themselves (by) unplugging from social media and all of the stimulus that’s on there and focusing more on the natural environment and the people around them,” Aknine said.
The experiment involved a diverse cohort of participants. Aknine said it also required a high degree of trust; while the students were issued flip phones with new numbers for all daily communication, they were allowed to keep their cell phones.
“We realized it wouldn’t be practical for them to forfeit their phones because of certain apps like Duo Mobile that provide access to UVA systems,” Aknine said.
For Michael Lipton, a fourth-year student majoring in chemical engineering, the former president of Flash, the experience was initially jarring.
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