“I hate social media” is a comment that frequently crops up on TikTok from Gen Z users. Though, ironically, these are posted to the comment sections on one of the most influential social channels we have right now, they’re part of a collective wave of digital fatigue that’s continuing to grow.

For many of us, socials shape the way we consume media and provide us with channels of communication with our peers. However, the general sentiment these days is that we’d rather they didn’t govern our day-to-day lives in the ways that they do. We’re both influenced by, and obsessed with, social media – but we’re also tired of it.

This shift in the zeitgeist has been highlighted by a few, broader changes: firstly, print media is on its way back. Secondly, the advertising industry is now catching up. Case in point: Polaroid has released a new campaign titled The Camera for an Analog Life.

The campaign has been posted in high-traffic areas across London and New York. It combines Polaroids with taglines such as ‘No one on their deathbed ever said: I wish I’d spent more time on my phone’ or ‘Real stories. Not stories & reels’.

To drive forward its message of spending more time in the physical world and creating real-life connections, Polaroid organised a series of phone-free walking tours in Paris and Tokyo. These tours encouraged people to lock away their phones for an hour and to experience the city instead through the instant Flip camera. The London edition will be held on August 19.

“We are analogue creatures, built to connect through our senses but the more we lose ourselves in digital algorithms, the more we drift away from empathy and real connection,” says Patricia Varella, brand and creative director at Polaroid. A Polaroid, she continues, “reminds us that the best of life happens in the real, physical world.”

polaroid.com/discover/flip-polaroid-camera