Media Fast and Binge

media binge and fast

For the media binge this semester, we had three days with as much media as possible and three days with as little media was possible. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we were instructed to use as much media as we could all the time. That meant being on the computer in class, having multiple screens up with watching a movie or TV, and settings your phone to alert you with all notifications. 

The binge for me was probably the most frustrating. My job is to work online with the media so I really value the times when I can unplug.  Yet of course for the binge, we had to keep media on constantly. I think the most distracting thing was allowing my Apple watch to give me ad many notifications as possible. The constant bombardment and distraction of the notifications was terrible. My watch notified me in class, meetings, while I was studying, and everything in-between. Although I think I consume a lot of media on a regular basis due to my Advertising and Public Relations major and job at the athletic department, this was much more than I had ever consumed before. 

The fast on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday was much welcomed after the binge. I set my phone on airplane mode when I was not at work or knew I needed to reach people. This helped a lot with not receiving notifications and tempting me to look at media. I also took my Apple Watch off and limited all notifications on my phone as to not be further distracted by media. The hardest part was really trying to just study when I was on my laptop and nothing else. I studied as much as I could initially using just textbooks and then when I needed to use the internet I did. 

Since finals are happening and I needed to use a little bit of media, I think a little bit of a better example is this summer when I worked at a summer camp. I was only allowed to use my phone once a week for 20 hours. There wasn’t any wifi or LTE so I could really only use it to call people unless we went 30 minutes into town. I really enjoyed not having my phone. It was a great break from the real world.