My Abstinence From Social Media

Social media has been an essential part of my day for years now and the idea of challenging myself to go twenty-four hours without any type of new media genuinely made me uncomfortable. The amount of media use I logged for a single day was enough to make me question my priorities and reveal that I possibly have a severe case of F.O.M.O (Fear Of Missing Out). Questions of self-doubt like, “How am I going to do this? How will I stay connected to my friends?” circulated through my head. Scrolling through Instagram or Twitter, my media’s of choice, has always been second nature to me, subconsciously opening those apps even when I have no purpose to be on them. Though I was hesitant to challenge myself to go without something

To start off, I’d like to say I go through periods of time where I only use my phone to call my mom or make plans. There are points where I don’t check social media for months. Other months though, I am a frequent and an adequate user of social media. I go back and forth.

Are we abusing social media? Can we live without it for an hour or two? Is it a must to be on social media ever day? Or why can’t we just give it a break? On a normal school day, I wake up at 6:00am. Firstly, I give thanks to God for a brand-new day. Immediately after prayers, I search for my phone which is usual underneath my pillow or covers. I browser through my notification tabs to see what I missed while sleeping. After replying to all my notifications, I go onto snapchat and twitter to post my good morning

Living in a world where social media is highly incorporated into our daily lives is associated with being detached from the things that matter, such as family, friends, and even human relationships in general. In 2016, Cal Newport pointed out in his article, “Quit Social Media. Your Career May Depend On It”, from The New York Times, that people are now beginning to believe that social media may even take a toll on their career. On the contrary, I find it ironic that people claim to be victimized by social media when they are giving it authority over them and their lives by assuming they cannot stay in control of how they spend their time. If common people allow social media to take up valuable work time, then they are one of two things; careless of their job, or they feel as though they are not in charge of their life. I believe that social media cannot hurt a career unless the person using it gives it the power to do so. On the other hand, Newport believes that social media can “hurt your career” by making someone counterproductive.

In the “Quit Social Media” article, author Cal Newport argues against relying on social media to build our careers. Not only does he write that it is harmful to us socially and culturally, but he also claims that we should stop depending on it to expand our careers because it distracts us from our real goals. Newport gives a logical argument, refuting common claims about the advantages of social media and offering clear counterarguments. Among his rebuttals, Newport highlights two main objections to using social media for professional opportunities. First, he claims that “interesting opportunities and useful connections are not as scarce as social media proponents claim.”

When I was 16 years old, I spent a summer at a Christian camp as a server. Although I was excited at first, I was nervous because while at the camp, you were not allowed to have your phone. The first couple days were hard, I struggled with the idea that I couldn’t talk to my friends all the time, but by the time the camp was over, I lost my desire to use my phone. Even after I left the camp, I began to use my phone less and less. I was able to put my phone down for hours at a time without having the desire or need to check on it. It wasn’t until college that I started to be on my phone all the time again. The fact that I was once again away from my friends and family created a constant desire to be on my phone to keep tabs on them. When I joined a sorority freshman year, all of our announcements and information about events were posted on facebook which made me redownload facebook and become addicted like I was in middle school. I am constantly checking all forms of social media several times a day because in my mind I am “in the know” and have a firm grasp of what is going on with my life. On Tuesday, November 14th I decided to download the app and have it track my media use for a few days before I did the social media fast. I found that I was on my phone for about 4 hours a day and had about 115 pickups. I wish I could say I was shocked, but because I am constantly checking facebook for sorority updates and talking to my friends via text and snapchat, I am not surprised

It was only when I had no access to social media that I realized how often I turn to it. While attempting to study, I reached for my phone to check for notifications automatically, almost like natural reflex, every 5 minutes. I would describe it as torturous for me to not be able to access Internet browsers even when I am on my laptop, to resist the temptation and to go against my habits. Although I knew that it was going to be a difficult task for me and planned ahead of time to make sure I had a friend by my side during those 24 hours, it was still extremely difficult, especially when my friend still gets access to the Internet and would occasionally text and check

What has happened is that to check all our apps has been embedded into our daily routine so we don’t notice how much time we spend on it. To describe me as a social media addict would be an understatement for I spend my days thinking of what to tweet, share, instagram and snap; for almost every moment of my day, be it significant or not. Facebook themselves sent me a random message thanking me for the 50 posts I posted in one week, I wasn’t sure if this was a genuine compliment or not, like wheres my gift card? Most of the time I spend online is due to me being the social media coordinator for a non profit organization but a big chunk of my usage is for personal use. Despite recognizing the amount of time I spent communicating in ways other than face-to-face I doubted that this experiment would exhilarate any surrogation and in most ways it did not. What the experiment brought about was a consciousness that even though social media does serve the advantage of being able to see what everyone else is doing without actually being there with them, many, including myself, have taken seeing as if it is experiencing when in reality it is not, moments can only be cherished through a screen not experienced. Overall not using social media I have to say made me feel a tad isolated but I

I have made changes to my usage of social media because I came to the realization that scrolling through Facebook and Instagram for hours on end is a waste of valuable time. Instead, I could be working out or getting ahead on assignments, rather than waiting to the last minute and

Alcoholism is one thing, but an interface of alcohol and the social media is, undoubtedly, another. This report seeks to establish the observed effects of alcoholism and social media on people, with a keen focus on young people. There is a tendency of the people to post pictures and videos of them engaging in alcohol use and getting out of control in bars and often parties that they attend. It is almost becoming a regular code for having a good time and subsequently letting the world know by posting crude pictures and videos of themselves drunk and unruly on social media, primarily Facebook, the social website as we know that is used by an immense number of people all over the world. The effect is reaching unprecedented levels with each passing

It seems as long as people have been having sex the rule has been wait until marriage. But in today’s society that ideal has been challenged. As people become more open about their sexuality and asking why staying a virgin is such a big social construct, especially amongst women. Abstinence I believe is a outdated construct, waiting for the right person, being responsible about protection and not basing someone’s worth on if they are a virgin or not.

The egg hissed as it glided across the frying pan. The oozing whites grew opaque, fluffed up, and sizzled near the pan’s edge. Otherwise the house was surrounded with a disconcerting silence. I drummed my fingers impatiently on the kitchen counter. I glanced at the clock again. 9:00 Am. I sighed. Only an hour had passed since I rolled out of bed, and I was already struggling with this seemingly easy English assignment. Initially I had scoffed at the idea of becoming unplugged when it was introduced in class; I perceived it to be effortless. However, with 23 hours remaining I realized that abstaining from technology was far more challenging than I had anticipated.

Every Morning I wake up and check my social media. It has been the first thing I have done every single morning ever since I have gotten an IPhone in 9th grade. Twitter has become my source of news, scrolling through my timeline has become the new flipping through the pages of The New York Times. Instagram is my source of seeing all the fun and interesting things my friends and different celebrities do, and snapchat has this similar sense as well. I also check Facebook to see what political rants people I am friends with go on, and cute videos of dogs. Social Media has taken over my life and I can easily say that I am addicted to it like many of my friends and other people my age. Anytime I go on a trip or vacation I check in on Facebook so people know where I am. Anytime I go to a new restaurant in Manhattan I put in the location on my Instagram. And anytime I snapchat I make sure to post the geofilter to show exactly where I am. This is extremely problematic for myself and for many people my age.

In today’s society almost every individual has some type of social media, whether it is Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or Twitter, People have accustomed to utilizing these types of social media and it has become part of their life and daily use. According to the essay “Students Addicted to Social Media” by the International Center for Media and Public Agenda, the study from the University of Maryland claims “American college students today are addicted to media” (Signs of Life in the USA 403). The university discovered that when these students are restricted from using media it is similar in terms of drug and alcohol addictions. During the study that the university conducted, students discuss how boring it is without media and how it gives them anxiety about not receiving information through social media. Other students claimed that texting and IM'ing gives them comfort and if they do not have these items then they feel alone and isolated from the world ( Signs of Life in the USA 404). Students are not the only ones who have an addiction of media but also parents and non-students. However, the International Center is accurate in some aspects and the responses students gave are very relatable which some people can agree with.

I hear Rob laugh from behind the coffee machine, he’s been trying to get me on social media for ages but I just have no interest. I lived in a world and a city that was so wrapped up in the social media world they forgot about the actual real world. After that day, the one that turned my life upside down, I realised how lost we all were in a world driven by technology. So I deactivated my Facebook and removed my Twitter profile, and have yet to look back.