24-Hour Media Blackout 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 …show more content…
I knew that the hardest mediums to cleanse myself from were going to be Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. My free time spent during breakfast allowed me to plan out my day in advanced rather than mindlessly scrolling through twitter. This new habit continued throughout the day, instead of surfing the Internet I replaced my time with productive assignments only. Occasionally, my mind would subconsciously go to Instagram or Twitter, but this only happened a handful of times during day. By employing this routine of replacing my social media use with something beneficial to my time, my homework was finished before I even left school! My school day was completed with minimal media use, but when I found that being at my home was a bit more challenging to abstain from all new media. I decided to go for to the gym for to work out but it is very hard for me to complete a workout without some sort of distraction like using my Spotify account. Unfortunately this was when the media black out challenge defeated me and I succumbed to referring back to my old habits by using media. Though I was able to make it through most of the day without my media, I could not sufficiently complete the full twenty-four …show more content…
My main problem that I possess when it comes to my phone dependency is how to fill my free time with efficient activities like reading, homework, or other things. When I went through school without using social media, I was much more attentive in class and I did not really miss the connection I had with my phone. I also discovered that I do not deal with the “fear of missing out” because in actuality I did not miss out on a single thing. Identifying this fact enabled me to understand that thinking I need my phone because something important could potentially arise is a complete lie that I feed to myself to give a “valid” excuse that I need to be connected to my phone at all times of the day. This challenge revealed to me how detrimental social media could become if I keep using it extensively. I have read several articles about how media are physically altering our brain in a bad way and leading to a lack of essential skills in people, mainly in the millennial generation. This made me question if new media has contributed to the rise of social anxiety in individuals or aided the downfall of literacy in America today. This project has truly opened my eyes with my personal media use and the potential risks that can spawn from abusing
Sherry Turkle, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, acknowledges the effects media possesses in her book Growing Up Tethered. Today’s adolescents have an excessive want to feel connected, and not alone, which is why they turn to the connections they feel media provides. Roman, eighteen, so badly wants to stay connected that he will actively be on his phone while driving and doesn’t even care about all of the lives that could potentially be in danger just because he needs to read a new Facebook message. Kids will do everything in their power to not feel alone. Cell phones can stunt an adolescent’s maturity by providing too many opportunities to stay connected and never getting out on their own. Other kids use their cell phone
Technology and Social Media In the essays, “Technology Taking Over?” by Yzzy Gonzalez, “The Parent Trap” by Clive Thomas and “This Is Not About You” by Andrew Santella, each of the authors write about the impact technology and social networking have on our schedules and the images of ourselves. How technology and social media can be a big part of our life distraction, we put more attention to our cell phones. Half of the time when we are doing homework, talking to our parents or in class all we do is be on our phones, we won’t pay attention to what we supposed to do or not end up listening.
I am constantly on my phone almost every second of everyday; texting friends, scrolling through Instagram, tweeting, or sending ugly snapchats of myself. All behind a screen, I felt connected to my friends, my followers, and the world. However, I was actually slowly losing my grasp on reality as I indulged myself in the world of social medias. Reality hit when parents came to Wellness Committee with concerns about their children’s overwhelming use of technology. As the Director of the Wellness Committee, this issue became my focus because I realized that constantly being on technology was unhealthy. It was also affecting the connections I made with people in real life; I was always too busy on my phone to make conversation with the those around me. I wanted my peers to be aware of this and to encourage them to disconnect from technology and connect with the real world. Therefore, I organized an informative community block and a no-technology lunch with the Chair of the Wellness Committee.
On the first day of class there were a number of interesting pet peeves mentioned. One of these which I related to strongly, is people who are rude about using their phones when they are with others. It is so prevalent for people to disregard those they are with to instead interact with their gadgets; it’s as though they are addicted to them. If you use FB or Twitter or some other social media networking forum or are you constantly playing with apps, how hard would it be for you to stop “cold turkey”? II: Thesis/Purpose Statement - Some may laugh at the idea that social media is an addiction; I hypothesized that it is and research supports this concept.
They’re selling your attention span.” (Are You Addicted to Your Phone?) Instead of reading books and finding hobbies, youth today are absorbed in social media. We are so addicted to it, we created a new phobia, the fear and anxiety of being without a phone. These mindless distractions turn us away from what’s happening in the world.
Can you imagine life without your cell phone? Does the thought give you anxiety? These days, technology plays a huge role in our everyday lives. You can do just about anything on the web and a smart phone provides instant access. In her article “Growing up Tethered,” author and founder of MIT Initiative on Technology and the Self Sherry Turkle discusses the attachments people have with their cell phones, the web, social media, and technology all together. Turkle speaks with numerous high school students about the relationship they have with their phone and the issues that arise from being tethered to it. We learn that communicating through mobile devices and the web takes the personal emotion out of the conversation, and real life interactions
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.
Cell phones and the computers are similar to each other in many different ways. One of the most common similarities is the internet aspect. With everyone connected to the internet, the adverse effects can spread throughout like a virus. “A Nielsen study released in 2010 indicated that texting was the primary reason for purchasing mobile phones and that text communication had become a "’centerpiece of mobile teen behavior.’" The modern smartphone of the 2010s is a powerful computing device, and the rapid and ongoing development of new applications provides users with a growing number of ways to use mobile phones for recreation, productivity, and social communication” (Issitt 2016). In the following Issitt states, “however, as smartphones have become more common, concerns about the detrimental effects of smartphone use have also increased.” (Issitt 2016). Issitt expresses the large growth of people with smartphones has its positives and negatives. The positives being the ability to communicate, but the negative being the effects on relationships with one another. An example of the negative side of things is the lack of interaction with people. People are more likely to call or text instead of interacting with one another. The lack of interaction can ruin relationships, or make people feel unwanted. In the article “Eurasian Journal of Educational Research,” the writer states that the internet, “can transform into an addictive instrument in excessive usage situations.” (Gunduz 2017). The statement explains the issue of the unnecessary use of the internet as a growing addictive process that is taking over more and more
Watching television with my family, the movie Bug’s Life comes to mind when that bug is attracted to a neon light which it is warned to not look at it since it is a bug repeller and will harm it. That scene and the result of the bug still coming toward it has stayed with me through all my child and become a moral recently. During the weekend, I often found myself clicking on another YouTube video, staring at the shiny screen and ignoring the world around them yet it was not until I realized that isolating myself in a digital word leads to me acting differently and being tired most of the time. Recently, an incident occurred involving social media that led to wondering about the link between aggressive behavior and an over dependence
Though it started out as a way to keep in touch with friends and family members, social media has become an addiction for so many people. In fact, many people make it a point to detox from social media at least once or twice a year. Many people check their social media apps before
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
There is a high probability you are 1 of the 211.39 million of Americans who are social network users (Statista). This number is the highest it’s been and on the rise for years to come. It’s considerably difficult for you to not have a social network platform. There is hardly a person who does not have a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account. Social Media is typically used for communication and entertainment, from direct messaging, uploading photos and videos, reading articles about various topics and playing video games. Today’s generation of Americans check their accounts periodically throughout the day trying to read messages from their “friends” or look at the new photo they uploaded. Most without hesitation
On October 10th, I successfully completed the arduous task of not using any media for eight hours. Before I started the media fast exercise, I thought this was the most horrible thing that could happen to me. The entire summer, I was on my computer and phone communicating with my friends and watching videos. Being a college student who has a lot of reading homework, I was angry that we could not read because I wanted to read the books for my classes so I would be able to do some of my homework. As I said before, accessing the media is very typical of teenagers and college students. My generation has lived with technology our entire lives. Growing up with technology accessible to us made this exercise so much harder. I later thought about how I worked at a summer camp in the mountains for three summers. At the
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
On my way home I found I listen to the radio but not as closely – singing along to some songs, shazming ones I may not know. I get home and relax by watching television. I will continue to browse Facebook (and admit to my addiction to it), look up recipes on pintrest. This past week I’ve been super focused on Superbowl food as I am hosting a Superbowl party. I also have done research on the Seattle Seahawks as of late as they are my boyfriend’s favorite team and I want to sound like I know what I am talking about. These pintrest recipes are having me go out and purchase the food required – as they have in the past for other events. This form of media is possibly where I make most food decisions. Pintrest has also provided me with different wardrobe ideas and trying to imitate them on a cheap, affordable level. The best part of my Facebook addiction is the easier contact I have with friends who live in other states. Though I could text or call typing on