Social media deprived.......an addict's tale

Greetings one and all, Today i embarked on a very interesting journey where i attempted to do a 12 hour social media fast, by this mean total abstinence from my cell phone, the internet, television, radio and any form through which communication is made. Before i continue, i must assert that this was the most frustrating thing i ever attempted and I challenge any one of you to test your ability and discipline to stay away from any form of media for at least 5 hours, I'm sure many of you wont make 5 minutes.


I made a 12hour noting of my life without any means of social media, it is as follows :


I awoke at 8 : 34 am, i remembered  the time distinctly since it would be the last encounter i had with my phone. i was so uneasy and irritable since i could not check my Facebook account, my g mail or just browse through the internet aimlessly like I do regularly. As the minutes passed by extremely slowly, i felt as though i was a drug addict in desperate need of getting "high". I asked my roommate if he could call my mother to inform her of my situation so that she won't go insane trying to contact me. By 11 :30 i was on the verge of picking up my cell phone to check my messages and my call log, i mustered the strength to resist. This exercise made me aware as to how long time seems to go by without any form of distractions from cell phones, or Facebook, i think i will try and adopt a more serious approach to this for exams.
At 2:17 i was becoming desperate, i was craving to know what was going on with people around me, i wanted to know who emailed me, who wrote on my wall, which person messaged my phone, what was going on in news, my mind was bombarded with a wanting to know what was going on, i took baths, i read, i worked out, i did all sorts of things to pass the time but still, nothing really worked. I arrived in school at 4 :38 pm since i had class for 5, being on campus did not help my plight since i saw people on their cell phones and laptops, the pressure to whip out my phone and burry my head in the screen was immense. In class, it was a great relief to see Roger, the Computer technician, since i knew he would be delivering a discourse and i would be exposed to a glimpse of the internet for a temporary period. He discussed the concepts of blogging and showed the class some tips and ideas, i was literally counting down the time at this point. By 8 : 30 I whopped out my phone and began going through my call logs and messages, i called my girlfriend and and excitedly told her about my experiment, i was so happy to reach in the apartment to check my email and Facebook, i was ecstatic to be reunited with my laptop and cell phone. It felt good being able to keep abreast with news and being in the loop with the happenings in society once more.


This exercise made me aware on my dependence to social media, it was interesting to note that i had an opportunity to focus my attention on other things but i kept wondering what was going on with people around me. I admit, i am a social media addict!