Media Fast and Binge

Technology consumes us everyday and I believe many of us are unaware of how completely dependent we are on it.  The results of the media fast and binge were an interesting extreme.  From constantly having my attention focused on my phone and/or computer to suffering from what I thought was extreme boredom during the fast, the challenge was a great eye opener.

Like I hypothesized, I found the media binge was must easier for me to stick to than the media fast. However, it was also much more exhausting. Constantly being on my phone and/or computer meant continuously checking and rechecking social media sites only to find little to no changes as well as surfing the web for hours at a time. I was more irritable, restless and not my happy self. Because it was dead week, I had many tasks to get done and studying to complete. My attention was so severely divided while attempting to accomplish these tasks that most took me double and even triple the amount of time that they should have.

The fast, at first, was a relief. I did not have to constantly have a bright screen staring back at me taunting me with what seemed like little and slow occurring changes. However, it did not take long for me to realize I did not know what else to do with myself. What if something interesting was happening on social media and I was missing out. One mechanism I used to cope with the fast was using “Pocket Points” on my phone. Using logos, this app persuaded me to not open my phone as the longer I avoided it, the more points I earned and therefore the more rewards I could redeem. As a poor college student, the logic in this app excites and greatly appeals to me.

I found the readings written by Powers to correlate very well to this challenge. During the binge, I was “busy, very busy,” or so I thought. During the fast I was “not so busy.” From the challenge, I realized that although we live in a very technologically dependent world, finding a happy medium between the two is essential to one’s wellbeing. In my opinion, too far on either side causes problems.