Tuesday

Crosslin:

   I’m beginning to develop a case of major FOMO (fear of missing out). Today in class, my classmates talked about how it was someone’s birthday. I had no idea, but I know I would have seen it on at least 20 people’s Snapchat stories before I even left for school if I were to have social media. During free time in class, my friends scroll through their Instagram as I stare at a blank screen. It feels like I’m on a long plane ride, where I can only use my phone for games. However, this plane ride is a week long, and not everyone else is on it. Although feeling a bit disconnected, it has been nice not having as many distractions in class. I’ve noticed that I’m able to get my work done much quicker than I normally would. I get most of my homework done in class, that way I have little to do when I get home and can get to bed earlier.

Eliza:

   Today was tons easier than yesterday. I miss knowing what’s going on and being able to send quick pictures to my friends on Snapchat, but besides that, today was good. I didn’t think about wanting to go on social media as much and was able to focus on studying. I’ve noticed that without the constant notifications from different apps, I don’t get distracted as much which helps me do my work faster. I miss social media, but I have definitely seen an improvement in my productivity.

Sara:

   Day 2 of no social media was a bit harder than yesterday but still not bad. Today I noticed I accidentally clicked on the apps a few times more than I did yesterday. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I quickly remembered the challenge and closed them before actually racking up any screen time. I was busy again today so any spare time was used to do homework. I checked my screen time and I realized that rather than entertaining myself on social media, I have been spending more and more time on YouTube. YouTube is my kind of “loophole” to this challenge because while its not technically a social media app, I can still stay updated on a few things that are going on with my favorite celebrities and YouTubers; and it functions as another form of mindless entertainment. Overall, today was a success, although I will say I am starting to miss being able to see what everyone has been posting in the last two days.

Kathleen:

   Today was a good day, but didn’t go as well as I had hoped. Today I found games to play to replace my social media apps. I played “BitLife” and “Game Pigeon.” I was much more productive than usual, but I still spent time on my phone. Today I was grateful I didn’t have TikTok, because Tuesday nights are when I’m notoriously bad at staying focused on homework, but I did miss Instagram. One of my soccer teammates asked if I had seen her comment on my post, and it was kind of awkward having to tell her no I hadn’t and that my mom had posted it for me since I was social media-less. Lastly, I was proud of my focus last night. Instead of checking Instagram or reading Twitter threads every five minutes, I actually sat down and did my Algebra 2 review packet for a long period of uninterrupted time.