The Social Media Experiment

Jayde Eubanks

I laughed and scoffed at doctors who said that people could develop an addiction to their phone. I used to swear up and down that there was no such addiction and I most definitely didn’t have it. Well, those doctors deserve a standing ovation because they were right. On December 3, 2014, I went on Facebook at around 8:30 p.m. as I always do, and right away saw a friend of my mom, post a status. She claimed that over winter break, she would block any news stations from her newsfeed to de-stress herself of all the events such as Ferguson, happening around the country. She made a strong case and I admired her for it. That’s when it hit me. I, Jayde Eubanks, would take it a step further and go a week without my three favorite apps Facebook, Vine, and Instagram. Could I do it? Of course, I could. But what if…? But what? Come on, it is just a phone! I continued to stroll through all my apps for another half an hour before reaching my final verdict. Was I really going through with the whole no apps thing? Yes. I had made up my mind and at 9:00 p.m., I wrote my goodbye status. It read, “I am going to follow in (Jane Doe)’s footsteps and go media free. Starting tomorrow, I will attempt to go a week without FB, Instagram, and Vine. I didn’t always have an iPhone and I waste too much time on those apps.” After logging out, I moved all three apps to their own little category box titled “Do Not Use.” Otherwise, I would’ve clicked on one of the apps, out of habit, and ruined the whole experiment with just one tap. I wasn’t going to take that chance. I felt excited to prove to myself that I could easily go a week without social media. For some reason, I started the experiment early at 9:05 p.m. that same night. I told myself, “Girl, you’ve got this!” Every day, I made sure to make at least one voice recording, using the app on my phone, to remind myself and explain how I felt throughout the whole experience. It wasn’t but 5 minutes into the experiment when I made my first voice recording. I said, “I am already having difficulty not using the apps. I thought it was going to be easy, but now it is the only thing I can think about. Hopefully, I can keep my mind off social media for the next week by filling up those hours of lost time by doing more productive things such as solving puzzles or reading books.” To be honest, I didn’t do those kinds of activities at all, but I did finish my homework much earlier than usual, which gave me more time to myself.

By 40 minutes into the experiment, I started to sound somewhat delusional. “I keep hearing this little voice in the back of my head telling me that it’s time to get on Facebook,” I said in my second voice recording. This “little voice” went on for about 3 days. I started to experience anxiety, my heart beat increased, my palms got sweaty, and I was shaking...all the time. I guess you could say I went through withdrawal, and I know it sounds completely insane, but I seriously could not stop feeling as if I was missing out on the world.

Days 1 through 3 were the same. My physical symptoms got increasingly worse. On the second day, December 5, 2014, I woke up to the sound of my alarm at 6:20 a.m. and the very first thought I had that morning was, “Time to get on Facebook.” Then it hit me...again. I can’t go on Facebook...or Vine…or Instagram. What am I supposed to do for the remaining four days?! Anyways, I got up and began getting ready for school. My room was completely silent and the silence was killing me because I could hear that stupid “little voice” taunting me. So, I played some music, specifically Jónsi, an Icelandic recording artist, to block out the “little voice” in my head. It didn’t work. At times, I got lost in the music, but in the end, I constantly thought about the apps. I attended school as usual and tried to focus on schoolwork, which didn’t help much either. At this point I thought, “What is wrong with me? This is so stupid,” but for journalistic purposes, I stayed strong and made it to day 7, a week without my three favorite apps.

On that last day, December 10, 2014, I was curious as to what I would see when I logged back into my Facebook account. At around 9:20 p.m., I did just that and I became considerably disappointed. More than anything, I felt eager to see how many notifications I had. It’s like Christmas when you see that little red dot hovering over the globe icon. Well, I only had nine notifications and about five or six of them were other peoples’ birthdays. It was as if I had never left. Still, I wrote my first post in a week, which read, “I’m back.” I looked through Facebook, Vine, and Instagram for about 20 minutes, trying to find something interesting, which I didn’t. Finally, I closed out of the apps, done for the night.

In conclusion, I discovered that after the third day, I didn’t care as much anymore. However, I am glad that I went through with the experiment. Now, I don’t spend nearly as much time as I did before on all my apps. It was like being a kid again. I said, “Mom, I’m bored,” on numerous occasions and I had to figure out what to do to keep myself busy. Movies were the answer. Just watch movie after movie after movie. It helped me a lot.

After my experience, I began talking to my peers about it, wondering if they could do what I did. Most of them said the same thing... “I could never do that.” Savannah Holtzmann, a junior, confessed, “I’ve gone a week without my phone before, but it was because I was grounded. I couldn’t do it intentionally. I’m on my phone 24/7. Instagram, FB, and Snapchat are my three favorite apps and I spend about two hours on my phone every day. I have no idea how much time I spend on my phone on the weekends. I’m just on my phone constantly. Even when I’m with my friends, we just sit there on our phones.” Personally, I almost never have my phone when I’m with friends. If I do, I set it aside and focus all of my attention on being a friend. However, I understand that some people enjoy being with their friends and on their phone at the same time. They might want to share something funny with each other.

“My three favorite apps on my phone are Instagram, Snapchat, and Vine,” Channel Fogherty says. “Instagram because I like to see what everyone posts and what all my friends in other states are up to and catch up with them. Snapchat because it’s like texting, but with pictures, so it’s a lot more fun. Lastly, Vine because people are so funny and creative on there. I always have a good laugh when I get on that app.” I was never much of a Snapchatter, which is why I deleted that app, months ago. Nonetheless, I plead guilty to Instagram and Vine. Most of the people I follow on Instagram are celebrities. Hey, don’t judge me. I like to know what Beyoncé is up to! Vine, well, vine pretty much speaks for itself. People are crazy and sometimes their crazy is a cheap source of entertainment when you’re having a bad day.

Lastly, Yarielys De Los Santos stated, “Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are my three favorite apps because they all give me a way to share pictures of things that all pertain to my life and other who mean a lot to me and get to share special moments with me in return. I could go a week without using those apps. I’ve done it before and it’s not a necessity to me. It’s just stuff that I enjoy to use, but there are other things in life that I’d rather do.”

Yarielys may be the least social media obsessed person I spoke with. She’s completely right. There are other things in life. I had to learn the hard way, but it was definitely worth it. Hopefully, I won’t go back to that loner who only experienced the world through social media. I don’t want adventure by looking at an iPhone screen. One must make life an adventure by living each day to the fullest, not caring about what others are doing or thinking. The only person who can live your life is you. It took “The Social Media Experiment” to make me realize how much more I want in life. Maybe it’ll do the same for you.