In all honesty, it wasn't bad at all, but I wouldn't say it changed much either. My ideal image was that once I got off these social networking sites, I would be focused on finishing homework, that there would be no distractions, but I found so much more to do such as cooking, cleaning, and art projects. Unfortunately, I really didn't get homework done.
I had decided to go cellphone free, too. I sensed it was stressful for others who tried contacting me. When my family members called me on my cellphone and couldn't reach me, they would eventually lecture me about not picking up my phone once they reached me on the home phone. When we went shopping, we had to pick a location and time to meet up again. As for my friends, I just couldn't contact them back, even if I saw that blue light blinking from my phone.
When I got back on SNS, my feeds would run on for ages with new content. I realized people share a lot of photos, statuses, videos, and so forth, on SNS to correspond with the timing of events. I had a lot of Halloween photos spamming my feed by Sunday night. At that point, they seemed a bit irrelevant to me, but I know for sure I would've had a different reaction had I seen them in the moment with all the Halloween vibes around me. That being said, I got bored of SNS quickly. Naturally, or I guess how I've programmed myself to behave, I would tap the Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Buzzfeed app in between commercials, conversations, and whenever I needed something to keep me occupied. I was simply looking for new content, but it wasn't always present.
Going SNS free made me realize how much time I really have. I just have to decide more intelligently where to put that time towards.
It's interesting to see how you got "bored of SNS" after being isolated from it for three days. Perhaps it suggests that social networking is only relevant and useful if you are invested in it 24/7. I think not using the cell phone is more difficult because direct messaging someone is more personal and can maintain a private conversation. I personally like voice-to-voice phone conversations with others so being unable to talk to others via phone calls was difficult for me as well. I also see your point when you talk about getting more homework done. Even without technology, homework is given the last priority on your agenda. I also think it is more difficult to complete homework assignments because in today's age, we are so dependent on SNS, emails, texting, etc. to gain knowledge and find information. Overall I agree with you, it was not as hard as I thought it would be but it was still not an ideal way to spend a weekend.
ReplyDeleteI had the same issue with not using my phone and trying to avoid blinking lights and beeps from people trying to contact me. I like your closing point about realizing how much time you have when you eliminate the things that don't necessarily have to be taking up your time such as social media. It would be interesting to calculate how much time one actually wastes online when they could be productive elsewhere.
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