I’m not the first to say that social media controls our lives. From Facebook and Twitter, to Instagram and Snapchat, our time is consumed by unimportant material. Time that can be better used for productive uses like school and work. As a challenge, we have conducted an experiment: 24 hours of NO social media. Yes you heard it correctly, 24 HOURS.
From this chart we can clearly see the challenge of giving up social media. But here we go…
THE RULES:
- Obviously, do not check social media
- Journal the day: how you feel, what you are doing
- I REPEAT, DON’T CHECK YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA!
To switch it up a bit, we combined some journals to get different perspectives of what happened:
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15TH:
8am: I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring. I opened my eyes and fought the urge to check my Facebook messages. I feel somewhat accomplished.
10am: While waiting in line for coffee at Einstein bagels I am immediately assaulted by overwhelming boredom. To distract myself from this feeling I turn on the new Black Panther album. Although I do not know whether or not Spotify classifies as social media, I proceed to listen anyway. While waiting in line I struck up a conversation with a girl in front of me and we went on to discuss how the drinks here are always under-sweetened. I also found out that she’s in my film class.
11:00 am: I never really appreciated social media until I realized how bad hospital waiting rooms are without any kind of entertainment, luckily I met a fellow Puerto Rican and talked to her and her family.
12:30: late to class is not something I want to be, but I sadly was. Ironically the class was based on social media and phone usage and I was forced to listen to my phone go off and still not be able to check the notifications like I had been doing the entire day. This was painful.
1pm- 3pm- this interval of time wasn’t so bad because I went from class to target and did not have enough time to think about checking social media.
4pm- once I got home from target my friend came over and we sat down and chatted over a cup of tea until about 5pm so I was not on my phone or checking any social media
6pm- all my work is done for the day, so I continue to watch the Olympics. Snapchat notifications pop up on my phone screen, and I break the number one rule of this challenge: I open up Snapchat and open up all the messages I received that day. Guilt rushes in and I know I have failed. Still though, I decide to turn off my phone with dignity.
7:40pm- my parents come to visit me, and as a special prize, brought me a pint of ice cream and a little plastic box of chocolates. With their company, I did not feel the need to go on any of my social media and open up any of the new notifications.
9:15pm- after they left and me almost finishing the ice cream, I decided to get ready for the night and turn in early.
Overalls:
Megan said: “I kept myself busy and accomplished so much that I wasn’t really bored and I feel very productive. I don’t think I would give this up every day but definitely could do it spread out for a breath of fresh air.”
Lauren said: “I broke the challenge less than 12 hours after it started. Beforehand, I thought I would be more productive with school work, but it didn’t exactly go as planned. I realize how much social media can control our lives, and the importance of turning it off once in a while.”
Jada said: “I do not think I could live in a world without social media in today’s society, however I now see the value of less social media consumption.”
Laura said: “During the course of a day I realized just how much I love and need social media, or how much I depend on it for entertainment. Not saying this is a good thing, but it definitely helps get through the day.”
So for a final conclusion, it is safe to say that giving up anything you’re “addicted” to is extremely hard but we all need to let go once and awhile and maybe read a book, chat with friends/family, or just breath the air around us. SO…
