Nostalgia tech: Classic BlackBerry phones are buzzing again in 2025

Barely old enough to hold the devices when they were popular, young social media users are longing for 'nostalgia tech,' writes Jessica Roy from New York

- Jessica Roy

When Victoria Zannino was in middle school, back in 2013, her father gave her a precious hand-me-down in the form of a used BlackBerry.

Back then, the device was a marvel. Unlike most phones on the market, it had a physical keyboard, albeit tiny, and a private messaging service called BlackBerry Messenger that she and her friends could use to text.

“I just feel like the time of the BlackBerry phone was very nostalgic,” Ms Zannino, now 25 and working in advertising, said in an interview. “Growing up watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians, seeing them driving with one hand on the wheel and a BlackBerry in the other hand was just such a slay of a moment.”

Ms Zannino’s yearning for the piece of older technology led her to post on TikTok calling for its return.

“PLEASE blackberry,” she wrote over a selfie, “I beg you to make your move and make a come back.”

The video has been viewed more than 6 million times and received more than 500,000 likes, backing up the idea that Zannino isn't alone in her nostalgia for older phones.