Media Fast: My Podcast Deprivation

The media binge that wasn’t anything too difficult for me, I think I was able to manage it pretty well - I type dripping with sarcasm all over the keyboard. Of course, the media binge was easy, it was basically my everyday life. I’m almost never NOT on twitter and this assignment just gave me the excuse to keep the app open on my phone nearly 24/7 until my phone would die, although that really isn’t saying much considering my phone has the battery life of a potato. During the binge, I utilized so many forms of media from typical social media like twitter, insta, facebook and Snapchat. To other things like Youtube, email, news sites, and, my dearest love, podcasts. The binge just felt like more normal day-to-life, unfortunately. When I’m not in front of my laptop at school or home, I’m on my phone or in front of our television at my apartment. This binge has made me more mindful of my bingeing and I noticed how fast my day passes and how little of the day, that I had just experienced, I remember. My days become just a blur of stress, school, memes and other non-tangible things but then actually remember little of what I had physically experienced throughout my day.

I will be a liar if I said that the fast wasn’t difficult and if I did not slip up at all during the few days that I had to avoid as much media as I could. It was very difficult, especially to my media-addicted-self. I had to constantly yell at myself when I had the urge to go on twitter of Instagram and when I caught myself using social media I would immediately get off and feel guilty for the monster that I have become. While abstaining from (most) media, I was able to focus fully on assignments, studying, and I did a more thorough job where I work at the Office of Admissions. Although very difficult, the fast was very eye-opening and a breath of fresh air to both my psyche and to my phone battery. My days seemed so much longer, I can actually list out things I’ve done with my time with actual detail and, holy crap, was I productive?! I was able to get so much studying and work done throughout the day when I wasn’t constantly getting distracted by a tweet that everyone was liking or by an adorable cat video that I was tagged in on Facebook. This level of productivity actually inspired me to continue the fast, or at least not use social media as much, while studying for finals week!

While I’m not completely giving up media while studying for finals, (you can never take my podcasts and Spotify away from me!!) I have definitely received a reality check to how much of my precious time I have wasted on social media and other various forms of media that surround our very beings every second of every-freaking-day. After being forced to be mindful of how I’m spending my time, I’ve become more subconsciously aware while using my phone or what is on my browser on my computer. This activity may not have made an immediate change in my media consuming habits but I do hope that I look back on it often and remember how much my productivity levels go up. I hope I am reminded to check back into reality more often than I currently do to see what’s happening while I’m not wasting my brain away in Cyberland.