I go on Twitter– A LOT. The “For You” page is where I get 85% of my news every day. I pride myself on being at least semi-knowledgeable on current events and it is a big conversation starter for me in any situation– especially while being in college. However, one day I decided I wasn’t going to go on Twitter for the next two weeks. The real reason why I did it was to avoid spoilers for a television show, but I also thought it would be an interesting experiment. Would I really feel out of date with everyone or would it make me happier in an “ignorance is bliss” sense?
First, let me preface this by saying that my Twitter “detox” began during finals week. Between studying and actually taking my finals, I wasn’t really going to have time to go on Twitter, so the real test was going to be winter break.
Week two without Twitter took place back in my home state of New York. Not having Twitter on-hand had an interesting effect on my phone usage. I found myself not going on my phone at all. I know it is cliche to say how it helped “connect to the world around me”, but that is what happened. I would do simple things like look out the window of the car and focus on what I was doing at that moment. I usually don’t talk if I go on my phone, so being without Twitter forced me to keep a conversation going and not just end it while proceeding to go on my phone for a while. It definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. Surprisingly, even though I did not have a ton of current news knowledge, and my usual conversation “crutches” were gone, I was able to have good conversations!! I talked about school and everything I had done in the first semester. I asked a lot of my family about what they have been up to which made for really great conversations. I hadn’t seen my family since Thanksgiving and it definitely made up for lost time while I was at school.
I’ve only had a Twitter since January of 2018, but since then it has become an integral part of my life– and I’m not the only one. According to the Washington Post, Twitter revealed in an earnings report last year that they average around 126 million active daily users. This massive number shows how Twitter is part of so many people’s daily lives. I enjoy it because I’m able to follow the people I want to and can post without the pressure of a perfect image that is often seen on Instagram. I can get the news and see anyone’s reactions. Looking back on this experience, I see how logging off helps focus on yourself as opposed to all the issues in the greater world. It is something I want to try more often and think everyone else should try too.
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Photos: Her Campus Media Library