30 Day Challenge
Hannah Russo
Piatek
Writing and Rhetoric
21 November 2013
30 Day Challenge: No Social Media Over the past several weeks, I have undergone the challenge of using no social media. Some days were better than others, but overall this task has been beneficial to my well-being. Even though this project presented prodigious challenges, much was accomplished. I made relationships with people face to face and not just screen to screen, while also improving my time management. For 30 whole days, I dared myself to not visit any social network site. For the first several days, I had sort of a withdrawal and would automatically go on my computer and type in any social networking site. I had to stop myself because I knew the second I broke my challenge, …show more content…
it would all go downhill from there. The challenge definitely was problematic at first because someone would constantly be reminding me of what I was “missing out” on. For example:
“Hey, did you see the picture Catherine tagged you in?… oh, never mind.”
It was almost impossible to go without hearing something that happened online; but as the days went on, things got slightly easier.
I eventually learned to drown out all the “internet talk” and know that whatever the latest gossip or news is would not be important the next day. By the end of the experiment, my craving for social networking slowly drifted away. I started to not cheat as much and now, even though the challenge is over, I feel guilty for visiting social media websites.
This challenged helped me in numerous ways. I made real relationships with real people. With modern technology, Facebook and Twitter wall posts can serve as an attractive veneer making relationships seem more genuine than they really are. Instead of shooting someone a quick message, I would take the time to talk to them in person and grow our relationship versus sending a lifeless message. As a result, my relations with others grew stronger.
This experiment also aided in my time management. Previously, I would spend numerous hours a day on social media, eating away my precious time. I learned that social networking has absolutely no benefit to my well-being and I would be much better off doing some thing actually productive with my time, like studying or …show more content…
exercising.
This challenge has been done by other people throughout the past months, especially now that all internet sites are rapidly gaining popularity.
The CTO of “Twitpic”, Steve Corona left all social media for 30 days-and “lived” to tell about it (He and I both had much difficulty the first couple of days because they were full of withdrawal symptoms). His goal for giving up social media was to create more value in his life, quit hoarding information, and appreciate the time that I spent with friends (How 30 Days Without Social Media Changed My Life). While Steve had so much free time, he strengthened friendships, meditated, and even wrote a book. Corona quotes, “It (social media) provided absolutely 0 values to me. I love the information diet that I 'm on and all I need to do is not plug back in” (How 30 Days Without Social Media Changed My Life).
I honestly was not expecting this challenge to be as testing as it was. The desires I had to go online were so large at first, that I could not withstand them any longer. I had to break, and I did on several
occasions. I’m not proud to admit it, but I did manage to break my challenge on numerous occasions. I broke approximately 8 times a week. That is not very great, in my opinion and I ultimately did not do as well as I wanted too. I will most likely do this challenge again though, so I can always try again next time. One problem that I faced was I did not delete the apps off my phone. I just could make myself do it, scared that I might get a very important message that would be necessary for me to read. Other people, especially my father, support me completely through my entire experiment. My dad says, “It’s great that Hannah is undergoing this challenge. She has desperately needed a mental flush of all the pessimism posted online and a chance to focus in on her studies” (Russo). When I first look at this challenge, I see it as sort of a failure. However, I learned many things about myself, I made progress in a number of areas, and I feel that I have grown as a person this past month. Success is progress, not perfection. The very fact that I am able to see some change from this experiment is great and I should be proud of all I progress I made.
Prodigious-remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree
Veneer- a superficial or deceptively attractive appearance, display, or effect
Pessimism- a feeling or belief that bad things will happen in the future
Works Cited
"How 30 Days Without Social Media Changed My Life." Lifehacker. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. .
Russo, James M. "No Social Networking Interview." Personal interview. 15 Nov. 2013.
Piatek
Writing and Rhetoric
21 November 2013
30 Day Challenge: No Social Media Over the past several weeks, I have undergone the challenge of using no social media. Some days were better than others, but overall this task has been beneficial to my well-being. Even though this project presented prodigious challenges, much was accomplished. I made relationships with people face to face and not just screen to screen, while also improving my time management. For 30 whole days, I dared myself to not visit any social network site. For the first several days, I had sort of a withdrawal and would automatically go on my computer and type in any social networking site. I had to stop myself because I knew the second I broke my challenge, …show more content…
it would all go downhill from there. The challenge definitely was problematic at first because someone would constantly be reminding me of what I was “missing out” on. For example:
“Hey, did you see the picture Catherine tagged you in?… oh, never mind.”
It was almost impossible to go without hearing something that happened online; but as the days went on, things got slightly easier.
I eventually learned to drown out all the “internet talk” and know that whatever the latest gossip or news is would not be important the next day. By the end of the experiment, my craving for social networking slowly drifted away. I started to not cheat as much and now, even though the challenge is over, I feel guilty for visiting social media websites.
This challenged helped me in numerous ways. I made real relationships with real people. With modern technology, Facebook and Twitter wall posts can serve as an attractive veneer making relationships seem more genuine than they really are. Instead of shooting someone a quick message, I would take the time to talk to them in person and grow our relationship versus sending a lifeless message. As a result, my relations with others grew stronger.
This experiment also aided in my time management. Previously, I would spend numerous hours a day on social media, eating away my precious time. I learned that social networking has absolutely no benefit to my well-being and I would be much better off doing some thing actually productive with my time, like studying or …show more content…
exercising.
This challenge has been done by other people throughout the past months, especially now that all internet sites are rapidly gaining popularity.
The CTO of “Twitpic”, Steve Corona left all social media for 30 days-and “lived” to tell about it (He and I both had much difficulty the first couple of days because they were full of withdrawal symptoms). His goal for giving up social media was to create more value in his life, quit hoarding information, and appreciate the time that I spent with friends (How 30 Days Without Social Media Changed My Life). While Steve had so much free time, he strengthened friendships, meditated, and even wrote a book. Corona quotes, “It (social media) provided absolutely 0 values to me. I love the information diet that I 'm on and all I need to do is not plug back in” (How 30 Days Without Social Media Changed My Life).
I honestly was not expecting this challenge to be as testing as it was. The desires I had to go online were so large at first, that I could not withstand them any longer. I had to break, and I did on several
occasions. I’m not proud to admit it, but I did manage to break my challenge on numerous occasions. I broke approximately 8 times a week. That is not very great, in my opinion and I ultimately did not do as well as I wanted too. I will most likely do this challenge again though, so I can always try again next time. One problem that I faced was I did not delete the apps off my phone. I just could make myself do it, scared that I might get a very important message that would be necessary for me to read. Other people, especially my father, support me completely through my entire experiment. My dad says, “It’s great that Hannah is undergoing this challenge. She has desperately needed a mental flush of all the pessimism posted online and a chance to focus in on her studies” (Russo). When I first look at this challenge, I see it as sort of a failure. However, I learned many things about myself, I made progress in a number of areas, and I feel that I have grown as a person this past month. Success is progress, not perfection. The very fact that I am able to see some change from this experiment is great and I should be proud of all I progress I made.
Prodigious-remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree
Veneer- a superficial or deceptively attractive appearance, display, or effect
Pessimism- a feeling or belief that bad things will happen in the future
Works Cited
"How 30 Days Without Social Media Changed My Life." Lifehacker. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. .
Russo, James M. "No Social Networking Interview." Personal interview. 15 Nov. 2013.