Gabriela Nguyen
Founder of Appstinence
Gabriela Nguyen is the Gen Z founder of Appstinence, a student organization of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Nguyen coined the term appstinence after she deleted her social media and downgraded from her smartphone, a huge change after being chronically online since she was 9. A native of Silicon Valley, her experiences growing up on social media have inspired others to question deeply if social media warps our personal relationships, to consider how much better our lives could look without social media and to embrace what she calls “the beautiful friction of the real world.”
Practicing appstinence means refraining from having personal social media accounts, and instead using phone calls and texts. Some members of the organization are also “cellibate,” meaning they don’t use a traditional smartphone. The goal of Appstinence is to trade a life in the attention economy for a life of deep focus, attention and respect for the human capacity.
In just several months the lifestyle has expanded to members on every continent (except Antarctica), and from all walks of life — from college kids to comedians, from Zoomers to Baby Boomers. The lifestyle quickly garnered interest from outlets like Yahoo Life and Mashable, and praise from Dr. Jonathan Haidt and Arianna Huffington.
Nguyen created the 5D Method, a research-based, step-by-step process for anyone who seeks to leave social media in a healthy and meaningful way. In the fall of 2024, Appstinence piloted Digital Lifestyle Planning, a 1:1 coaching service for anyone to fix their digital habits using the 5D Method. She will be graduating from Harvard this May.
Nguyen coined the term appstinence after she deleted her social media and downgraded from her smartphone, a huge change after being chronically online since she was 9. A native of Silicon Valley, her experiences growing up on social media have inspired others to question deeply if social media warps our personal relationships, to consider how much better our lives could look without social media and to embrace what she calls “the beautiful friction of the real world.”
Practicing appstinence means refraining from having personal social media accounts, and instead using phone calls and texts. Some members of the organization are also “cellibate,” meaning they don’t use a traditional smartphone. The goal of Appstinence is to trade a life in the attention economy for a life of deep focus, attention and respect for the human capacity.
In just several months the lifestyle has expanded to members on every continent (except Antarctica), and from all walks of life — from college kids to comedians, from Zoomers to Baby Boomers. The lifestyle quickly garnered interest from outlets like Yahoo Life and Mashable, and praise from Dr. Jonathan Haidt and Arianna Huffington.
Nguyen created the 5D Method, a research-based, step-by-step process for anyone who seeks to leave social media in a healthy and meaningful way. In the fall of 2024, Appstinence piloted Digital Lifestyle Planning, a 1:1 coaching service for anyone to fix their digital habits using the 5D Method. She will be graduating from Harvard this May.