How my use of media made me👤😐 not 🗣👥😊

Over 24 hours, I spent 12 hours and 15 min not on my devices, ten of which I was asleep for. This means I spent almost 85% of my waking hours interacting with some form of media, largely social media. As a result, I know where my friends dined on Saturday (courtesy of SNS stories), but I am less informed on world or even local events Over 24 hours, I spent 12 hours and 15 min not on my devices, which means I spent almost 85% of my waking hours interacting with some form of media, largely social media. As a result, I know where my friends dined on Saturday (courtesy of SNS stories), but I am less informed on world or even local events that occurred during that time (courtesy of news outlets, or lack thereof). My use of media detracted from productivity, and while it gave me a false sense of connectedness, it prevented me from having face-to-face interactions.

I default to SNS when I am bored or feel I have nothing to do. There is an ease and mindleI default to SNS when I feel I have nothing to do. There is an ease and mindlessness to scrolling through my Instagram feed that I do not experience when reading a New York Times article, for example. The information presented on social media is easily digestible; you can open an app, interact with a post, and close the app in a matter of seconds. News articles take time to read and process, however, considering the hours I spend on my phone after falling down the social media rabbit hole, I might as well devote this time to appreciating longform journalism instead.

My social media use may be an unconscious effort to stay connected, as particularly on this day, I spent a lot of time alone in my room. However, this was unsuccessful, as evidenced by the fact that my mood during the time I spent on social media was mostly “neutral.” I was only “happy,” when I was texting friends I wanted to talk to. That being said, texting is much less nuanced and hardly a replacement for in-person interaction, not that it was a surprise that I found sending my friends blurry photos of half my face on Snapchat to be less valuable than actual conversation.

Even when I was not actively engaging with media, I had Spotify playing in the background. When studying, I like to put on music in a language I do not understand. Ultimately, the mental stimulation is inherently somewhat of a distraction anyway, however, the bigger distraction was the ability to access media across multiple devices. While Facetiming my family on my laptop, I was able to simultaneously check SNS on my phone. It was also tempting to check my phone while I was supposed to be watching a less than fascinating film for school on my laptop. Again, this took away from my ability to have a real conversation and learn new things.

My playlist of Korean songs that I often listen to while studying.

I also use media as a kind of defense mechanism. When eating dinner alone in the I also use media as a kind of defense mechanism. When eating dinner alone in the dining hall, I watched Good Morning Call on Netflix to be entertained, but also to avoid being awkward. Eating alone is not wrong, but I feel my generation has developed an aversion to being alone in a crowded setting without doing something. My phone provided me with the facade that I was occupied, which detracted from my ability to actually be occupied by interacting with others in-person.