A day without Social Meida

A day without social media

When we were told to spend a day without social media, I thought this would be an easy enough task. I deleted all of my apps (Facebook, Instagram, Whats App, and Snapchat) off my phone. I also said I wouldn't text anyone either as it was another way of communicating with others.

I started my day without social media @9am. I had an 11 o clock class so I was on the bus for 9.30am. At this point I would have logged onto the Dublin Bus Wi-Fi and checked my Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. But instead I listened to music. I noticed straight away that I had become more observant, looking out the window, noticing other people on the bus. This was a good start until it hit lunch time. Usually at this point my WhatsApp would be filled with messages with arrangements to meet for lunch. But I could only go for lunch in the hope that I’d bump into one of my friends. I couldn't find any of my friends so I ate lunch on my own. Half way through my lunch one of my friends from class (who I rarely meet up with) joined me. This was a nice change and probably wouldn't have happened if I had met up with my usual group.

I’m also a keen rower and usually we make plans to train together depending on our schedules. At this point I really had the urge to use social media and send just one Snapchat to see if anyone was around. But I held off. I went up to the erg room chancing that some of my team were up training. One girl was up about to start her session but it was only by luck that she was there.

After training I went on up to the library to study. Usually, after about an hour and a half I’d get distracted by social media and would disrupt my train of thought. But knowing that I had no social media I kept studying on and had a much more productive evening in the library than I normally would have. When going home (about 8pm) I’d have done the same thing as I would have done in the morning. Again, I was much more aware of what was going on, on the bus.

I really enjoyed my experience but it was an eye opener at the same time. I realized just how dependent I was on social media and how it was taking over my life and my studies. There were times where I really needed it but in reality it was more of a want than a need looking back on it.