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.