Scroll No More

The Prompt

One minute, everyone is texting, scrolling, swiping, posting, ordering, navigating, and checking the time. The next, every smartphone in the world is useless.

Now what?

For this challenge, imagine what happens when the thing billions of people reach for all day suddenly stops working. Maybe your story follows the first few chaotic hours. Maybe it's about someone trying to get home without directions, a relationship forced offline, a city figuring out how to function, or a world that's had months to adjust.

You can go big or keep it small. Make it funny, hopeful, chaotic, dystopian, or surprisingly ordinary. Just follow the ripple effects and show us what people do when scrolling is no longer an option.

Thanks to Lightning Bolt for suggesting this challenge!

In order for your submission to qualify, it must be:

• Between 600 and 3,000 words.
• Submitted to the Futurism community. Your story will be disqualified if it is submitted to any other community.
• Submitted before October 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST.
• Your work must be original and unpublished.

The Prizes

• Grand Prize: $1000
• 4 Winners: $200 each
• 10 Honorable Mentions: $15 each

For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 3,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines.

Stories published on Vocal and entered into the Challenge up until October 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

The Scroll No More Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+, visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.

To be eligible to win, you must be over the age of 13 and reside in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need a Stripe account created and connected to receive prizes. Entrants located outside of these countries will not be eligible to win.