Millennial man plays 'Going 90s' game with friends when he steps out — and the internet is obsessed
He and his friends intentionally leave their phones behind before walks, errands, or grabbing food.
For many people today, stepping outside without a phone feels almost unthinkable. From checking messages and maps to scrolling through social media, the small device has become a constant companion. But one Millennial creator says he and his friends occasionally try something different when they go out together, and the idea has now sparked conversation across the internet. On March 6, Mike Sheffer shared a video on Instagram from his account, @mikesheffer, in which he explained a simple rule called "Going 90s": stepping out the door without bringing a phone. The video has garnered two million views and has been liked by 130k people so far.
Sheffer said the name comes from how life worked before smartphones were everywhere. "We'll have to start going 90s, which is the thing that my friends and I do. We'll leave our phones at home if we're going to go for a walk or go to a store or go get food," he explained in the video. According to him, the phrase is meant to reference a time when leaving the house automatically meant being unreachable for a while.
"The idea is just to leave your phone at home. It's going to be fine. You're not the president of the United States. You're not running a billion-dollar company. It's going to be OK if you're offline for an hour or two," he said. Beyond the humor, Sheffer says the real benefit comes from how the absence of a phone changes the atmosphere of a hangout. "It really just makes any time you're with somebody else so much more present," he explained, adding, "We've also found that things just happen. There's a different energy that you have when you are… we call it when you're 90s."
The idea sounds all the more convincing considering how people nowadays are using their phones and other devices for pretty much everything. Research from the Pew Research Center found that about four in ten US adults say they are online almost constantly. Another study from 2023 shows that smartphone use itself has surged over the past decade, with around 90% of U.S. adults now owning a smartphone, meaning most people carry internet access in their pocket everywhere they go.
With phones now serving as cameras, calendars, maps, and social hubs, the thought of intentionally leaving one behind can feel unusual. That is exactly why Sheffer says the small experiment can be refreshing. "It's just something I would encourage you to do if you live in a walkable place. If you go out for a walk with friends, if you can walk to a store, do an errand, anything that you can do for like an hour or two," he said. For him, the goal is not to reject technology entirely but to create short pockets of time where people are not automatically reaching for their devices. "I just cannot recommend it enough. Hopefully, this becomes a trend, and people do it," he concluded.
The idea resonated with a lot of viewers, many of whom said the concept reminded them of how normal that lifestyle used to be. @skinnytaste wrote, "Crazy how the first 30 years of my life this was normal. And now it's so hard to do." @eyeball2camera commented, "Can you imagine being at a concert and nobody is filming, just dancing. I can. I'm old."
You can follow Mike Sheffer (@mikesheffer) on Instagram for more lifestyle content.
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