Get together with your friends, watch a movie, drink a bottle of wine, go for a midnight stroll through the neighborhood, go to the bars, go to a sporting event, but above all do these things without your phone always attached to your hands or your eyes.
We have 100 years to make a name for ourselves. I guess we can do that online, but what about the nature, adventures, grabbing a conversation with a random stranger. Is this linked to our sensitivity to other's comments? I blame the technology we sleep next to at night. Texting and contributing to social media is causing the generations to step away from personal connections and step into the realm of hatred, confusion, and misunderstandings.
I pledge to keep by summer phone free(except for emergencies and urgencies). I will only have an hour a day to use my computer. And only on rainy days I can watch my beloved Netflix.
I am going to try to make connections with people through conversations and similar interests. I want to dedicate my focus on my son because he is only one once, and I feel like he needs my guidance and attention more than the people on the other side of my phone.
Who wants to take this pledge with me?
I want to be outside. Get lost. Get muddy. Get sweaty. Have difficult days, but talk through them at the end of the day with your friends or family (in person). Let's see how much our moods and outlook on life will be.
Week 10, not again.
Good luck
Mikayla
As we have discussed in class and as Dannah Boyd talks about in her many articles, people use social media primarily to manage weak ties with people that they don't get to see all the time. So although I agree that we are too attached to our phones, do you think that by taking on this challenge that you will become less in touch with people that you don't see very often? Or even more broadly, can you foresee any negative effects on your social life due to not using your phone all summer?
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ReplyDeleteThis is something I've been thinking about a lot and how I can also step away from the phone. As I work social media for multiple organizations, I feel that sometimes I am constantly scrolling endlessly through social media platforms on my phone.
ReplyDeleteEven when I'm not focusing on these responsibilities, I find myself watching BuzzFeed videos or looking through my Instagram feed over again at night when I could be getting a few more minutes of much needed sleep.
Although I would not be able to completely ditch my phone because of work and such, I think it's important to at least limit the time I'm on it. Do I really have to scroll through my Facebook again? Do I have to check my personal Twitter each day? By thinking about these things, I think we can all realize what really matters to us and be more involved with things that area actually happening around us.
This might be my favorite post I've read yet by anyone in class. It hits on fantastic points, and it's not something you necessarily think about until someone does point it out, or tell you that you're doing it so much. Especially the generation just after ours, the millenials, I fear they'll never know a life without a smartphone, given that everyone seems to get one at the age of ten nowadays (I didn't get mine until I was 18... and it was a flip phone >.<)
ReplyDeleteI also love your last paragraph, as a kind of call to action. And apart from using this blog for class and doing research for final papers, I'm genuinely going to try to take up your pledge. Well done.
This may be hard for some college students to tackle if they have previous commitments that may require social media in their job or internship.
ReplyDeleteI, however, do not have any commitments that will require me to check my Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
If anything I will post pictures of my son. Also, I committed myself to an ongoing project over the summer directly for my son. It's called project Brody. I'll be creating a scrapbook both electronically and in paper form. This will require myself to use some technology, but not particularly social media!
Thanks for commenting guys!