Media manages to catch the attention of most students today for either all or most of our everyday lives. I idea of a media binge is probably much more accurate to our normal routine than a media fast, and that's what makes this experiment so interesting. We were challenged Monday - Wednesday to participate in a media binge. This basically means to immerse ourselves with as much media as we can at all times. To be honest, I would say that I'm pretty much always checking some form of media throughout my day. I'm just used to being connected to family and friends through one form or another of media. Some of my most used forms would be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Netflix, and texting on my phone. I managed to be on my phone a lot for these 3 days of bingeing. However, I would say that when I was purposefully engaged constantly I found myself not wanting to be looking as much as I was. It started to become a hassle sometimes and I craved being free from any media during the day.
After the 3 day binge, we were supposed to then complete a media fasting period from Friday - Saturday. This means being removed completely from media as much as possible and seeing how it affects our day. Coming straight off of constant media this was shockingly difficult to get used to. I found myself always reaching for my phone in various times throughout the day. I usually watch Netflix whenever I'm relaxing at home or not doing homework or something and this was weird to adapt to. I really just had to find a way to keep myself busy without using forms of media. I spent a lot of time with friends away from my house and many things outdoors. The absolute hardest thing about the media fast was not reaching for my phone during random moments of boredom throughout my day. I would say though that as the day went on and I really thought about what I was giving up I was glad that it was happening. It gave me a new perspective about how truly dependent a lot of us are on media this day in age. I hope that other students also felt similar feelings to me with how time consuming and pointless it all really is. We worry about not seeing what each other is up to on a day to day basis and we should learn to be content with our own day instead. After completing this assignment I have a new outlook on how often I should be engaged in media. I would encourage that other students try this experiment to see what changes they feel they should make after the binge and fasting period from media.
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