My idea of writing this blog began on February 7, 2020. Before typing this blog, I had the choice to either document my screen time or go without the internet for 24 hours. Initially, I decided I wanted to write a blog on my time without the internet for 24 hours. I knew going without the internet would not be an easy task, but I didn’t think it would be impossible. I began planning which day I would go without the internet. I decided I couldn’t do this on a weekday because work and school both require me to use the internet. I was now choosing between going without the internet on a Saturday or a Sunday. I typically do homework on Sundays, which eliminated that day from being an option. I was now left with choosing which Saturday I would go without the internet. I chose a Saturday, and as it approached, the idea of going without the internet felt impossible. I thought to myself, there is no way I can do this. I continued to push back the day I went without internet until I decided to record my screen time instead.
It is now February 20, 2020. My day begins with my alarm going off, and I immediately checked my phone. I opened Snapchat first because I had a notification. Typically I check my text messages first in the morning, but today I didn’t have any texts to check. Next, I went to Instagram, scrolled through for a few seconds, and moved to my Gmail account. After checking Gmail, I went to Facebook, where I had a notification of an event coming up. This event reminder was for my friend’s birthday party happening tomorrow, Friday, February 20. This notification inclined me to text my friend Lexi, who is also invited to the party, reminding her of it. Realizing it was now 8:30 AM, I needed to get up, or I would be late for class. In the morning, I only have a few minutes before I am required to get up and get ready for the day, so I check my phone, but I find myself quickly scrolling through rather than watching what people post. While I was doing my hair and makeup, I occasionally sent a text or replied to a text with my friends Lexi and Alex, but I have limited time to get ready, so I tend to avoid staying on my phone once I am up.
Now 9:15 AM, I am grabbing my backpack, wallet, keys, laptop, and phone to head to class. I never leave my room without my phone and wallet. Those are the two essential items I could not do my day without. I drive over to campus, park, and then check my phone one more time for text messages before I get out to head to class. I have a text message from Lexi that I check then head to Forbes. On my walk, my phone is still right there in my hand just in case I receive a text I can easily reply. I am now in class, and the first thing I do is set up my laptop. Before class begins, I pull up scholar to check my grades, Gmail to check emails, a google doc to take notes, and another google doc to track my screen time. I am typing this as I am in class to stay accurate with my screen time tracking. While in class, I noticed I keep my phone between my legs. We are used to older generations telling us we are inseparable from our phones, but I feel this realization puts into perspective how inseparable. I reflected on where I keep my phone during classes and realized the only time my phone is in my backpack during class is on test day. Even when my phone is in my backpack on test day, the first thing I do once my test is turned in is pull it right back out. Today, I checked my phone twice during class. Both times I checked my phone was because it buzzed once from a text message and once from an email. Both times I picked up my phone I saw that it wasn’t anything I needed to reply to immediately, so I set my phone back down. I am now convinced the picture above to the right is an actual representation of what I look like all day.
It is now 10:45 AM, and we are released from class. Lexi, Nathan, and I walk to Einsteins to grab a coffee before our next class. Typically, if I am standing in a line alone, I will stay on my phone rotating through my social media platforms until it is my time to order. I do this to avoid conversation or awkward eye contact with the people around me. Due to me having people with me, I didn’t look at my phone a single time, but I did have it in my hand for proximity. I am now in my 11 AM class, where I again have my laptop out and my phone on my desk. I find myself consistently doing more than listening to the lecture. I am zoning in and out as I work on other things such as looking through my Gmail and surfing LinkedIn for marketing jobs. I even pulled up google maps at one point to explore the cities and states I want to find a job before graduation. I again only grabbed my phone when I received a notification. I received a few text messages, but none were of importance, so I placed my phone back on the desk. My phone in classes seems to be a minor distraction in comparison to my laptop. I always have my phone within reach, but never check it unless I feel it vibrate or see it light up. My computer, on the other hand, allows me to look as if I am taking notes in class when I am focusing on other things creating a distraction. Having a laptop open in class where I can easily open additional tabs could be seen as a distraction problem.
Class is over, it is now 12:15, and I am heading to work. Even at work, I have my phone either in my lap or on the table. I can’t seem to be further than arm’s reach of my phone. Is this what addiction feels like? I look at my phone at work about as often as I do in class. In the article, A Framework for the Dark Side of Social Media, it states, “Consumers may be engaging too much with digital platforms—including but not limited to social media.” I think it is safe to say the majority of individuals including myself over engage. We may not realize we are over engaging in our phones until we do experiments such as this one where we begin to monitor ourselves. If I feel my phone vibrate or see it light up, I will glance at what it is, but will not answer unless it is crucial. My mother texted me while I was at work, asking me to call her when I had a chance. I replied with, “Yes, I get off at 4 PM.” Some days I am on my phone at work more than others, but today I seemed to be on it for a minimal amount of time. This might be because I didn’t receive many notifications, because today was a busy day at work, or because I am more aware of my screen time due to me monitoring it. I am a Marketing Intern at Waters and Bridgman Marketing Solutions, which requires me to work on a computer using Facebook, Instagram, Google, Google Sheets, and Google Docs. I only work 3 hours today but a total of 15 hours a week. That means just considering work alone, I stare at a screen for at least 15 hours a week. Wow. I am starting to think I should invest in blue light glasses.
I am now in class, where I have my phone within reach and my laptop on my desk, per usual. I begin typing this blog again but took a few minutes first to hop on Twitter to do my daily homework tweet. The class ends within 30 minutes, and I am off to dinner. At dinner my phone is on the table, shocker, right? At dinner, I now place my phone face down. I don’t want to pick it up while eating with friends because it feels rude. We finish dinner, and I pick it up to check. I now have a ton of texts in a group chat that I missed. I immediately begin reading because it discusses our intramural dodgeball game at 7 PM. After reading the texts, I realize it is nothing essential and head to the gym. At the gym, I ALWAYS listen to music, so of course, my phone is with me. I also check my phone in between each workout set. What I am on varies, but I will go from Snapchat to text, to Instagram, to Twitter. Checking my phone gives me a few minutes to breathe before I start on the next workout set.
I am now leaving the gym and heading to my dodgeball game. During dodgeball, I set my phone down off the court, so I don’t look at it the entire hour. I might have set my phone down for that hour, but you better believe it was the first thing I checked (and always is) once the game was over. I replied to a few texts before I got in the car to head home. When driving, I have a smart screen in my vehicle that is a touch screen and allows me to change my music… Is that considered screen time too? I am now home, and I begin to type the missing pieces of this blog. Once I was caught up, I watched Netflix until about 11 PM, the entire time I watched Netflix, I was also on my phone. I scrolled through Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, text, and repeated. I would put down my phone for a small amount of time here and there, but rarely ever. All this screen time cannot be good for my eyes.
It is now time for bed. I close my eyes and sleep. Bzzzt Bzzzt that is the sound of my phone vibrating to notifying me of notification and my same routine begins again. My screen-time opened my eyes to not only how addicted I am to my devices, but how often we use them in life for me to be unable to go 24 hours without the internet. In the article, A Framework for the Dark Side of Social Media, it states, “we have not fully considered the effects of live streaming consumer content on social media or more broadly social media as a communication channel in general.” It is scary to think I am using something like social media so often without knowing its full effects or consequences on my life. Additionally, to think people once went without the internet is now a foreign concept to me. The picture above to the right alone just highlights a few consequences of our social media use from one article. Attempt to monitor your screen time and see if these consequences apply to your daily life.
References
Scheinbaum, A. C. (n.d.). A FRAMEWORK FOR THE DARK SIDE OF SOCIAL MEDIA. From Digital Drama to Digital Over Engagement. Retrieved from https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/5de8067ddba3b/1785706?response-content-disposition=inline; filename*=UTF-8''Scheinbaum-%20Framework%20for%20Dark%20Side%20of%20SM.pdf&response-content-type=application/pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20200311T135932Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21599&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PLTYPZRQMY/20200311/us-east-1/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=7a3af3a9a490148a0bf1872f14d7cfcdf9c835acbce9efdd60b396591d0b7c17
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