Blog 3

When deciding between 24 hours with no internet or recording your 24 hour screen time, the choice was easy because I knew there was no way I could go 24 hours without. Since my parents gave me a phone in fourth grade, there has not been a day gone by where I have not used it. As a college student, especially during the week, there is no way for me to not be on my phone or laptop. Not only is technology used for class purposes, it is needed to get my homework done, check the syllabus and I have textbooks on my laptop that I use daily. As for my phone, I need it to answer important messages, keep in touch with my family at home, stay up to date on all kinds of sorority information, and post about best dance crew practices and play music. I decided to record my screen time for a 24 hour period on February 20, 2020. 

            I started the screen time recording when I woke up to my phone alarm at 8 AM. Right away, I went through all my social media accounts, these include: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, VSCO, and TikTok. Usually in the mornings I check these for about fifteen minutes before I get up as a way to wake up enough to get out of bed. Also, as I do every day, I checked my three different email accounts and CNU scholar on my laptop at 8:20 AM. Next, I logged onto my sorority app, called OmegaOne, to log study hours from 8:30 AM -9:15 AM. Also during this time, I turned on my television to Netflix to watch and listen to The Circle while I got ready for class. During our Communication and Social Media class from 9:30 AM-10:45 AM I use my laptop to take notes on Google Docs, have the readings up and available for class discussion and use Google to research information we talk about. I always spend a few minutes before class starts on Twitter, tweeting for class and then retweeting many of my classmates tweets and then with any leftover time Snapchatting my streaks back. In class, something was said about credit score and I forgot I needed to pay off my credit card, so I logged into my Discover app and U by BB&T app to make a payment transfer around 9:45 AM before the payment due date. Afterwards, I reviewed the readings on my laptop as we discussed them in class so I could re-read and follow along. To end class, we watched an episode from Parks and Rec around 10 AM for about 15 minutes and then I scrolled through Instagram once the episode ended.   

In my second and last class of the day, Marketing 470 from 11 AM-12:15 PM I took notes on my laptop and worked on other classwork, as I usually do. After class, I went to the library to work on my Media Audiences class unit review on my laptop and periodically took breaks to check my various social media accounts, including Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok for a quick entertainment break. At 1:00 PM while I ate lunch, I watched a few videos from my favorite YouTuber, Laura Lee, for about 45 minutes. Following that, I watched TikTok in my bed for about 15 minutes to create the motivation to head to the gym. As I also do, while I walk to the gym, I listened to my gym playlist on my Apple Music account. During my workout, I periodically check Instagram to look through the workout videos I have saved on my account and try to find new music. At 3:00 PM once I was back in my room, I checked all my social media accounts and then I watched a few TikTok’s. Afterwards, I checked my email on my laptop which then lead to me working on my Graduate school application for about 30 minutes. 

While I got ready for class, from 5:00 PM to 5:20 PM, I switched back and forth between Apple Music and Spotify. Then I watched YouTube on my laptop and TikTok videos while I ate dinner from 5:30 PM to 5:50 PM. Before my class begins at 6pm I always scroll through Instagram, Facebook, and respond to Snapchats. While in my Data Analytics class, from 6 PM to 8:45 PM I used my laptop to take notes, look through class information on Scholar, and work on other classwork. During class, I had to download R Studios on my laptop and then we used that application for a demonstration and assignment. I always finish my assignments early, so once I got out of class at 7:15 PM I listened to Apple Music while I walked back to the gym. Once there, I watched my friends play intramural dodgeball and I checked Instagram and Snapchat for short periods on and off. I got back to my room at around 8:05 PM I then immediately turned on Netflix to the show Cheer while I checked all my social media accounts for 10 minutes. As I got ready for the night, I listened to Apple Music and Spotify starting at 8:15pm for about an hour. There was about a 15 minute time period I did not use my phone at all, shocker, until around 9:30 PM when my friends and I made TikTok’s and posted on Snapchat. Finally, I ended the night how I always do before bed by checking TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. 

Keeping track of my technology use for the day was exhausting and made me realize just how much time I spend on my phone and laptop. While I was putting this blog together it actually made me sad how often I just “check” my social media, when I know it is not going anywhere. This assignment was a great reminder that it is okay to miss liking a few posts or not constantly having to Snapchat back my friends does not make me any less of a friend. As stated in A Framework For The Dark Side of Social Media, if a consumer is engaging too much, it could be unhealthy or even be an early indicator of a social media addiction. A big reason I continually feel the need to check social media is due to fomo or fear of missing out, in today’s world I do not want to be left out of any breaking news or latest trend. Since this day, I really try to think more about if I actually need to check my phone or if it is just a temporary distraction.  

References

Scheinbaum, Angeline. (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%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Scheinbaum-%2520Framework%2520for%2520Dark%2520Side%2520of%2520SM.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20200312T035153Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PLTYPZRQMY%2F20200312%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=b42b0fb19db7bd9fd3c02e2ebcf5b052e067404599edfad0354a2c6f7429bc97