Tracking Use of Social Media

You never really notice the impact something has until its removed completely. This goes the same with social media, especially in our lives where it seems social media is now the easiest way to communicate and stay in touch with friends and family. I decided to try my social media reprieve over thanksgiving break as I figured it wouldn't interfere with my schoolwork. It really becomes apparent how dependent people are to their devices when you take a minute to notice. Thankfully I was around family for the first part of the day which I miss by being away at college so it wasn't hard at all to just unplug from technology and social media but I did notice everyone else always having to check their phones or refresh their screens for the latest updates. I feel like social media almost dehumanizes people from actually experiencing emotions; instead they would rather Facebook status or tweet it. The second half of my day I spent with my friends which is when I really started to notice differences in time spent checking phones instead of actually communicating. It really opened my eyes to do this social media experiment and made me realize how much extra time I would have.