Day Four

Yesterday was the last day of the experiment without social media.  I feel like I have learned a lot about today’s society, but I still do not believe I would be considered addicted to social media.  I am not physically or mentally dependent on it, nor did I have any side affects after not using it for days.  It is a great way to pass time, but not something I need in my life to stay sane.  I am glad social media does not affect me so deeply in the way it has affected many.  

Social media in my life is essentially just a way to connect with friends, keep updated with the news, and stay connected with my clubs and organizations. I had gotten into the bad habit to check each app in between classes, before I go to bed, and first thing when I wake up.  Now after my social media hiatus I can see why I should try to stop doing that.  I got to sleep so much more without it.  I was able to stay in contact with friends without it just fine

This experiment has helped me realize it is not necessary to always have my phone out when I walk and check it in between classes.  It has become more of a background subject in my life. Today, I experienced for the first time someone so into their phone that I was physically run into.  I am just glad I am not and I will never be that invested in something so unimportant and unnecessary.  I have really enjoyed thinking more about what is important to me to accomplish during the day instead of zoning out mindlessly looking at a phone.  Though the use of social media varies in different people's every day lives, I still like to think it is more useful than harmful.  The harm does come with overuse, same as every substance.  Though this break from social media has been good for me to see how other's and myself view social media differently, I was definitely ready to get rid of all of my built up notifications.

Day Three

Social media, whether I chose to believe it or not, is a large part of my life.  It is a great time waster, and it is how I connect with a lot of my friends.  I miss knowing everything that goes on during the day.  It gives me something to do and something easy to talk about with friends.  I don’t miss feeling constantly needing to be with my phone.  I forgot my phone in my room for a few hours yesterday, and it was surprising to see how little I really needed it.

I have a couple other things I have been doing instead of using social media.  I have been reading more lately which is exciting.  I have been starting and restarting this book for a month now, but I have never really had the time to get involved until now.  I started knitting a blanket over Christmas break so I have also been working on that more and more which is fun to see the progress I have made since the experiment has started. 

So far I have only “fallen off the wagon” twice.  I only half count the first time, because I did not realize it was after the starting time when I was on Twitter.  The second time was just out of habit.  This morning when I woke up, to really wake myself up I check my phone.  I had logged onto Twitter and watched a video my friend retweeted of a four year old singing a cover of "Tonight You Belong with Me" with her dad before I remembered I was not supposed to be on it.  At the end of the video, there was a promotion page for the Youtube account of this dad. On this page, there was their Facebook, their Twitter, and their Instagram account names.  It was then that I realized I needed to get off the social media.  This just goes to show that even this four year old girl is affected by social media, though she may not know it.  People on the internet love her and her dad, and she would not know a single one of them if they came up to her on the street.  Though networking through social media is very helpful, at the age of four it is not necessary.

Day Two

Day two of this experiment has been harder than I thought it would be.  Being around others constantly on social media has caused me to think more about my reactions to others checking their phones.  If others are looking, I move to look.  So far I have not felt more or less connected to others, I just have not been able to see the same things they have.  It was a little odd when my roommates and I were doing our homework together and they each pulled out their phones for a study break. 

I think I am becoming more productive.  I had a test today that I feel I was able to study better in the morning without the distraction of checking my phone.  I was able to read for my class tomorrow faster, and my homework was finished earlier in the day.  Becoming more productive has also allowed me to feel more accomplished about all of the school work I finished.  It also allowed me to go to bed much earlier which is a huge bonus.

In class, we watched a documentary called Life 2.0.  This film was a clear insight into the harsh reality that many people spend all of their time on the internet and connecting with others virtually.   The people in this documentary spend upwards of 20 hours a day online.  I think of them as an extreme example still.  Even though it has been difficult not looking at social media habitually, I am not even awake the amount of time these people are on their website.  There is nothing that is drawing me in enough to keep me online that whole time.  The idea that your social media life is completely separate from your real life is definitely exaggerated within the movie, but in real life I do not feel like that is the case.  I can not think of anything that I would post online that I would not say in real life.  Though this does go to show that, through addictive personalities, social media can be come a large portion of your life to the point it can change how you feel about your real life.

Day One

Social media is a concept that fascinates me.  I have always wondered how we have gotten to a stage in technology where the entire world has the ability to, and does, share every minute of their lives with the rest of the world.  Our culture has become so obsessed with being so in the know of another random person’s life that we can form opinions about their current relationships or if they should or should not get a dog.  These are private details and decisions we should know nothing about.  It is this investment in others' lives that cause our generation to have a constant need to know what is going on every hour of every day.  Social media affects almost everyone in the world today, it just depends on how invested you become.

Social media has definitely become a habit to me. I do not mean that without the constant presence of others through my phone I am lost, I just mean checking these apps has just become second nature for me.  I do not realize that I am opening Instagram until I am actually in the app.  I have active accounts for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Vine.  Facebook I use mostly to keep connected with older relatives, and it is the primary source of news for my sorority.  This is where we in my sorority are told where to be and at what time or if there is a philanthropy event we can sign up for.  Instagram I enjoy using most.  I prefer looking at other’s posts more so than posting myself, which definitely goes along with the idea of keeping up with other people's lives.  There are some incredible, aesthetically pleasing food accounts on Instagram, like @hungrytwins.  Twitter I use to keep myself updated on the world news.  I follow the people that I would actually say, "Hello," to if I walked by them in real life and all of the news accounts like Fox and CNN.  Snapchat I use fairly rarely, only when someone else snapchats me.  Pinterest I use to plan all my future travels, though they may be in the distant future.  Vine is good right before bed, because it is an easy distraction from the stresses from earlier in the day.

Social media is just for temporary distraction in my life.  It gives me something to check while my friends are also checking their apps or if I have nothing to do while I wait for classes to start.  I have been posed the challenge of going four days without social media, until now.  I am 5 hours in, and I have already forgotten about the challenge at least three times.  I think after this experiment ends on Friday, I will be able to concentrate better, use my phone less, and I think I will be happier overall.  I am very excited to see how the rest of this week goes.