My Social Media Fast

Blame it all on Run Bum.  On Sunday 10/24 he posted on his Facebook page a challenge to give up something until Friday afternoon and write about how it made us feel.  He suggested soft drinks or TV, but I rarely ever drink soft drinks and I don't watch TV every day, so I didn't think either of those would be too challenging.  I could give up coffee with more notice (I have to do it gradually or the caffeine withdrawal will trigger a migraine), but that won't work for spur of the moment.  Then I thought "Well, what about Facebook?"  So I immediately closed it.  Then I thought I should include all social media or it wouldn't really be that hard.  This was shortly after 4pm Sunday, so I decided to go till 4pm Friday with my social media fast.

Sunday Afternoon/Evening

 I didn't really miss it too much that afternoon.  Sunday afternoons are often my time to do chores around the house, and I usually leave my phone sitting in my room anyway, so I kept busy and didn't really think about it until I watched The Walking Dead.  Glenn!  Oh no!  And I can't get on Twitter to chat about it.  What to do with these feelings?  Luckily Josh and his friends were downstairs getting bored with the Colts-Patriots game.  They decided to watch TWD not too long afterwards, so I went down and watched the end again with them and then we discussed.  Well that's better than live-Tweeting anyway.

Monday

I was really busy at work with interesting projects, so the day flew by and I didn't miss social media at all.  After work I ran errands, cooked supper, cleaned up, and then read for a while.  Now I usually do read in the evenings, but I first check all those notifications on Facebook, etc., so it's more like 30-40 minutes after I sit down before I actually open my book.  Not this time - I got into the story right away.

Tuesday

Now it gets tougher.  I spent most of Tuesday at work setting up budget templates, which means linking spreadsheets & fixing formulas.  Boring!  So the urge to get on Facebook and/or Twitter was really strong.  I actually did have to briefly break my fast when I saw the notice on my phone that Carmen had tagged me on the LF Boot Camp page.  We usually try to get a head count for who's coming to boot camp, and sometimes call it off if attendance will be low, so I did have to pop on briefly to say I'd be there.  But I got right back off again without looking at anything else.

Tuesday night shortly after I got home (but thankfully NOT while I was in the shower) our power went out.  It was out for a little over an hour.  I tried to read by candlelight, but it wasn't really working.  I had a flashlight but I didn't want to run the batteries down reading since I didn't know how long the power would be out.  So I ate my cold sandwich for supper without any entertainment, except wondering what the dog could see or hear out there in the dark to make him keep barking.  Kind of creepy being home alone in the dark like that, with Sammy acting like the yard was full of zombies.

Wednesday

More budgets at work.  I'm starting to feel like a zombie myself.  Give me something interesting to work on!  After work, a GriefShare meeting, then stopping by Target to get some candy for the trick-or-treaters, and some Peeps for myself.  I can't get online to post a pic of the Peeps, so I texted it to a few people who love Peeps just as much as I do. 





(Product review: These Peeps are delicious!  The candy corn and pumpkin spice flavors are dipped in white fudge, and the caramel apple ones are dipped in caramel fudge.  These are amazing!  They are only available at Target.  If you have one near you and you are a Peeps fan, hurry over to see if they have any left.) 

Thursday

Two quick breaks to my fast, although again I just posted & closed out without checking notifications or scrolling through or anything else.  I let my FBG know I would be at the Flat12 run club that night in case any were thinking about meeting up, and I posted a Throwback Thursday picture collage of pumpkin carving and our first Halloween together as a family (2004).  I had already put that together ahead of time, and I really wanted to post it before Halloween and not wait.  I know, excuses, excuses.

Thursday night watched Haven and I did miss live-Tweeting it.  Such a good show, and since I don't know anyone in real life who watches it, I enjoy chatting about it on Twitter.

Friday

Almost done!  I only have to make it till 4pm.  I actually have a lot I am excited about today, but thankfully there are a lot of people around to talk to so I don't miss sharing it online.  I'm cosplaying as Carol from The Walking Dead today, and I'm really surprised at the number of people I know in real life who don't watch it & have no clue who I am.  Come on!  Flowered shirt, knife in my boot, gun in my waistband, plus a spray of flowers and a plate of cookies.  Short gray hair, badass attitude.  Well, okay, I have those last two every day.  But I never bring cookies to work; and I won't until everyone gets their time sheets correct and on time.  Anyway, I think I nailed the Carol look, so I had fun.  Although I do have to question their footwear choices on TWD.  I tried running in these boots at the Athletic Annex Halloween party that night, and they were very uncomfortable.  Perhaps Brooks needs to sponsor TWD next season?  Run happy, even when running from zombies!

Takeaways

Are there any?  Did I learn anything from this fast?  A few things I think I'm going to change:

1. I'm going to clean up my timeline, unfollowing pages with content that doesn't interest me and people who post nothing but memes.  That way when I do get online, I can see the things I'm there to see and spend less time scrolling through looking for it.  I want to see what my friends are doing, I want to find out about upcoming events that might interest me, and I want to encourage and/or pray for my friends who need it.  I don't want to see copy-and-paste posts, memes, or politics.  
2. I'm going to exchange phone numbers with a few more friends, so they can still reach me if I decide to take another social media fast.
3. For the most part, I think I use social media to enhance real-life friendships and activities, not replace them, so I think I'm doing okay.  But I also definitely use it as a crutch sometimes when I'm bored, and I need to watch that.  Scrolling through endless memes is also kind of boring if you think about it, so I'm going to find something better to do when I'm looking for entertainment.

 What About You?

Anyone else want to try it?  Or have you already and if so what did you think?