Media Binge/Fast

Over the past week, we were instructed to go on a media binge and a media fast. The media binge would take place approximately from Monday to Wednesday and the fast Thursday to Saturday. Personally I felt the binge was going to be extremely easy to do; however, I soon discovered with three presentations, a 20 page paper and finals to study for, it was not easy in the slightest. Prior to the start of the media binge, the Friday-Sunday prior I was essentially on a media fast because I was training with the Marine Corps and didn't have my phone. I realized, as soon as I started the media binge, how much I truly can't stand some of the people on my social media feed and it's also just sad how much time I spend on social media to begin with. As I continued the media binge, I came to a miserable understanding that I don't even use social media to really educate myself on the world around me but rather mindlessly scroll to kill time.

On the reverse side, during the media fast, there were times, especially when studying for finals all I wanted to do was get on Facebook and either watch some super cute dog video, or laugh at someone's ignorance as they post their thoughts and feelings on the internet about a specific topic. Both of which I absolutely love to do. However, I found it within me every time I went to open Facebook or Instagram, to instead consider the 20 minutes I was about to waste and contribute nothing to society or my own intelligence. Instead, when I got bored, I opened the book that is downloaded on my phone and read it for 20 minutes. This gave me enough time to read some of my book, get my mind off of some of the ridiculous material to study for finals and regather myself mentally before diving back into studying. I thought my Friday and Saturday would be incredibly boring without having social media and then after Saturday, I realized I was actually productive. Actually went grocery shopping, instead of watching all the "Taste" videos on Facebook, wishing I had food. Cleaned and reorganized my stuff and studied.

Overall, I do appreciate social media and how it connects me to people I know and love but I also hate it because I spend so many minutes of my life on it, doing nothing. After this binge/fast, I think my goal is to try and find a better balance between the time I spend on social media and the time I spend doing anything else that could actually improve my life in other ways.