A viral TikTok trend is giving people a dramatic way to defend their screen time.
The “I’m not playing on my phone” trend uses audio from late Eric Mays, the former Flint, Michigan, councilman known for his fiery personality and memorable outbursts during city meetings. Mays, an American auto worker, union organizer, and politician who served on the City Council from 2013 until his death in early 2024, was known for his bombastic, unfiltered personality.
The sound comes from a recording in which Mays appears to be reprimanded for looking at his phone during a council meeting.
“What, you playing on your phone?” someone asked.
“No, I’m not,” Mays replied loudly. “I’m taking care of business.”
A new meme takes form
Now, TikTok users are using Mays’ quote to describe what it's like when friends and partners accuse them of “doom scrolling” when they are in fact, “taking care of business.”
The clips feature onscreen text explaining the nature of the business they’re conducting, from cyberbullying to petty stalking to battling on internet forums. TikTok users are loving the trend because it's so relatable to be called out for playing on your phone, when in fact, you're on some kind of personally dire mission.
User @nicole._.frederick dunked on the USA men’s hockey team in her contribution to the “I’m not playing on my phone” trend. The clip’s onscreen text read, “When my bf thinks I’m scrolling TikTok but I’m really cyberbullying the USA men’s hockey team.” She added in a caption, “The way they won gold but are still such losers.”
TikToker @daniellepiercee used the viral sound in a clip with 2.6 million views. “Just doing ✨girl✨ things,” she wrote in the post’s caption. “When my husband thinks I’m doom scrolling but I’m knee deep into figuring out if one of my old friends from high school got a divorce or not.”
Eric Mays has become an internet legend
This is not the first time Eric Mays has gone viral.
The former councilman, who served on the Flint City Council from 2013 until his death in 2024, became known online for his larger-than-life reactions during meetings.
Clips of Mays first spread widely on TikTok in 2023, then surged again in 2025 after his death.
The “I’m not playing on my phone” sound is just the latest example of Mays becoming an unlikely internet icon.
For many TikTok users, his emphatic response has become the perfect defense for every online habit.
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