Coffee isn't my only addiction...

I had the privilege to go a day without my phone in the middle of a pandemic. To give a short backstory, I am a 21 year old girl living away from home by herself with a minor (or major depending on how your perspective) social media addiction...

Since going on this journey without my phone, for only 12 hours, I decided to vlog my time and reflect on my decisions.

Behavior:

Based on the video above, you can see how I did...but there is a question I would like to answer: Do you agree with some social media critics that you were more “plugged in” to the real world? The answer is no. If anything I felt more disconnected. I think that if I truly did this for a whole day I would felt like I was an outsider surviving the day. I do think I would think differently, had I had more human interaction/was on campus. Even if I was on campus tho, I don't think I would have felt more "plugged in" to our world because our world is essentially online now. The world that everyone "plugs into" is digital.

Identity:

As I mentioned in my video, I wrote a in my journal the whole day. I did a basic layout of my feelings:

Morning: Fine, I had human interaction

1pm: Started to feel anxious, but good

2pm: Drove around and took pictures to clear my mine

3pm-6pm: Took a nap, watched TV, and read a book

6pm-7pm: Felt great! Went to another park

7pm-8pm: Journaled, watched the sunset and listened to good music

8pm-9pm: Felt grateful

9pm-10pm: Went to get food and the person in front of me paid for it, felt happy

10pm-12am: Did a face mask, painted my nails, watched a rom-com

12am: Texted my friend immediately to see how his day was...

I do think my phone is "a part of me" in a sense. I am constantly connected to people and I feel like I can never turn it off. However, turning it off for 12 hours was the best thing that has happened to me. I felt free and that I didn't owe anybody anything.

Commercialism

"To what extent do you agree that you are your own media company—both via your consumption choice and your production efforts?" The point of my SNS is to present who I am and display what I want you to see. So yes, I am my own media company. There was a time that I literally paid 5 dollars a month for Lightroom just on my iPhone for my personal Instagram so I "produced quality photos." Now I still pay for it, but I also use it for other things, so I got that going for me. However, our social media markets who we are and what we want you to think we are. Even if you "don't care," you still care about your reputation in an essence.

Overall, this was a fun experiment that I would love to try again... when I live with people. To be honest, it just felt like a true mental health day and I encourage everyone to try it. I'm just never going to permanently get rid of my phone...that's like asking me to give up coffee.