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In an Oct. 31, 2026 blog post, Vitalik Buterin described experiments in digital minimalism, including using Firefly to post across several social networks and spending 100 days with his phone in airplane mode while using Wi-Fi. He said the social-media change made him feel better and recommended that people try ways to limit or scope their use. The supplied report cuts off before explaining the results of the airplane-mode experiment.
Vitalik Buterin published a blog post on Oct. 31 describing experiments to make his digital-technology use more deliberate, including moving much of his social-media activity to the multi-platform app Firefly and keeping his phone in airplane mode for 100 days. Buterin, the Ethereum co-founder, said the social-media change made him feel better; the supplied text ends before giving the results of the phone experiment.
Buterin calls the broader approach digital minimalism: choosing deliberately how to use technology rather than being drawn into it by default. He frames it as a counterpart to physical minimalism, which he has practiced by keeping few possessions. His post describes the experiments as personal experience, not as a controlled study or evidence that the same changes will work for everyone.
For much of 2026, Buterin said, he used Firefly to manage posts across X, Bluesky, Farcaster and Lens. He said his original aim was to support decentralized social networks and distribute social-media activity across services rather than keep it concentrated on X. Firefly lets users view posts from the four platforms and publish a post to all four, according to his account.
Buterin said Firefly lacks a central feature of X’s interface: its recommendation algorithm. He believes that difference reduced his exposure to content that had prompted him to click through replies and quote posts, which he described as morbid curiosity. He said that, after returning to X’s interface, he sometimes logged out and switched back to Firefly. His second experiment lasted 100 days: his phone remained in airplane mode, with Wi-Fi still available and cellular service turned off.
Buterin’s account focuses on how the design of a platform can shape what users see and how they spend time online. He said X remained engaging for him but often did not feel informative or leave him feeling good. In his view, a feed that encourages people to inspect provocative posts can lead to more of the same material being recommended. That is his explanation of his experience, not an independently verified account of how X’s recommendation system treated his account.
The practical takeaway he offers is to change the route into a service rather than necessarily abandon it: use a different client, set specific days for access, or otherwise limit exposure. This matters to readers who want to keep some benefits of social networks—such as communicating and following updates—while reducing time spent in feeds. The post does not measure changes in screen time, mood or information quality, so its value is as a personal account and suggestion, not a quantified result.
The phone experiment raises a separate issue: the trade-off between limiting cellular data connections and maintaining access to mobile service. Buterin identifies privacy as one goal and says a cell-connected phone can be used for tracking. The portion provided does not explain his second goal or describe how airplane mode affected his daily activities.
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From Physical to Digital Minimalism
Buterin says he has long favored physical minimalism and refers to a post he wrote four years earlier about the contents of the 40-liter backpack he travels with. In the new post, he argues that digital technology calls for a related practice: making access intentional rather than relying on default habits. He acknowledges that physical possessions can also help people maintain practical independence, rather than presenting minimalism as a rule to own as little as possible.
His social-media experiment followed what he describes as a worsening experience on X around late 2024 and early 2025. He points to a surge in posts he perceived as expressing support for Adolf Hitler and to what he calls “financial nihilism” in Crypto Twitter, a view that treats gambling as the natural end of blockchains. These are Buterin’s descriptions of online trends, not independently established measurements of platform-wide opinion. He also says those discussions later subsided, citing both the tendency of such movements to burn out and possible improvements to X’s recommendation system.
The Phone Experiment’s Results Are Missing
The source text provided for this report ends partway through Buterin’s discussion of the 100-day airplane-mode experiment. It identifies privacy as one of his two goals and says he continued to use Wi-Fi, but it does not include the second goal, his findings, or whether he kept the practice afterward. Those details cannot be inferred from the excerpt.
There is also no independent data in the supplied material on how much time Buterin spent on social media before or after switching clients, whether his mood changed in a measurable way, or how X’s algorithm affected the content shown to him. His explanation of the algorithm and his account of online trends should be read as his observations. The post does not establish that Firefly or airplane mode produces the same effects for other users.
Further Details Depend on the Full Post
The next step for readers seeking a full account of the phone experiment is to consult the complete blog post, because the source excerpt stops before its findings. Buterin’s stated recommendation is to try a workable form of social-media limitation, such as switching clients or reserving platform access for particular days. He does not announce a formal program, product change or follow-up study.
Whether he continues either experiment, and whether he will publish additional details or measurements, is not stated in the supplied material. For now, the confirmed development is a personal account of changes to his own online habits, with the reported improvement tied specifically to his experience using Firefly.
Key Questions
What does Vitalik Buterin mean by digital minimalism?
He defines it as using digital technology intentionally, making access a conscious choice rather than being drawn into it by default.
Did Buterin leave X?
No. He said he continued to engage with X but did much of his posting through Firefly, which also supports Bluesky, Farcaster and Lens.
Why did he prefer using Firefly?
Buterin said he felt better using it and suspected that the absence of X’s recommendation algorithm reduced his exposure to content that kept drawing him into replies and quote posts. That is his personal explanation, not an independently measured finding.
What happened during the 100-day phone experiment?
Buterin said he kept his phone in airplane mode for 100 days while continuing to use Wi-Fi. The supplied excerpt names privacy as one goal but ends before describing the second goal or the experiment’s results.
Source: vitalik.eth.limo
