I just halfway, unintentionally, went a whole week without any social media. I got a new phone while I was at my parents’s house, and while my pictures and contacts were restored, the apps weren’t. I figured I would redownload them from the beloved (and feared) iCloud later. Except Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat all require passwords to login…and I didn’t remember ANY of mine, nor could I access the email I used to sign up for them 4+ years ago. Whoops. Instead of freaking, I figured I would document my struggles and share them. So, on Sunday, March 13, all of my social media accounts came to a screeching halt.
Day #1: March 13
When I got home from the Verizon store, I got sort of busy unpacking from being at home and tidying up, so I didn’t really miss my social apps much. However, when I decided to get ahead on some reading for my Women in Literature class, I was interrupted about 15 minutes in with the undeniable urge to tweet some lyrics that had been stuck in my head all day. Remembering I was without my Twitter app, I just turned back to my reading. I got ready for bed and tried to settle into my usual routine: Watch Golden Girls from 11-12, then roll over for a little late-night scrolling before I passed out. But then I realized I was without both of those apps. I think my lack of tweeting was actually getting to me already at this point, because I was having SUCH an urge to tweet a certain lyric from a song that I just typed it into a note in my phone and that satisfied me. The lyric was, “Nowadays I only see ya in my daydreams,” from a song by Gnash. I linked it, you’re welcome.
Day #2: March 14
I spent most of this day laying out by the pool, dozing off. I played a little bit of flip-cup with a friend and some new people I met at the pool, and we eventually gathered such a crowd, including a tiny puppy named Panda, that I whipped out my phone to put it all on my Snap Story…oooor not. I put my phone in my bag and left it until I was ready to leave the pool, and it was nice not to worry about my new baby getting bumped into the water or spilled on. I also painted my nails on this day and realized just now when I was typing up this blog (on the 19th) that my manicure isn’t nearly as chipped as usual.
Day #3: March 15
I woke up in the middle of the night this night and realized I would need someone to be awake and texting me at 8 in the morning while I waited for the bus, since I wouldn’t have Twitter or Insta to stare at to avoid human contact. SOS. I also felt out of sorts because I didn’t put a picture of my bed with the time stamp filter on it on my Snap story before I went to bed last night. The morning got off to a lovely start with a late shuttle and literal *piles* of pollen littering the parking lot of my apartment complex (where I stood waiting for the shuttle that was very late). My phone was on 35% at 11:00 on this night! I usually have around that much at about 4-5pm, so that was insane, especially considering I listened to a LOT of music on this day.
Day #4: March 16
I was sitting in the waiting room of my doctor’s office waiting to get my birth control shot (depo provera, I love you so). That would normally have been prime scrolling time, so I was going to distract myself with a magazine, but then I realized the magazines on the table were from 2012…and I should probably change doctor’s offices. By 9:50 this night, I’d already had dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, showered, did a facial, and was in bed with ALL of my homework done. If that was due to my lack of apps, consider all of my social media deleted forever. I got over 9 hours of sleep!
Day #5: March 17
UNCW played Duke today, and I couldn’t make it to Trask for the viewing party, so I really missed Twitter today. I did peek at some snap stories over the shoulder of a friend that I watched the game with, but I don’t think that’s cheating considering the circumstances. Right? I realized that Coach K’s face kind of looks like the Snap filter that squishes all of your facial features into the center…and felt kind of pathetic when I realized I was thinking about Snapchat filters instead of sending “Kick their butts” vibes to our basketball team. Sorry, guys! I went to bed (again, with all of my homework finished!) pretty early on this night, so this whole “no Twitter” thing has been great for my sleep schedule. You can check out a recap of the UNCW/Duke game here.
Day #6: March 18
I saw a totally snap-worthy scene at Target today. A little old lady was riding on a shopping cart through the parking lot being pushed by her husband. It was so cute I nearly died, and I’m glad that I stopped to take in the moment through my actual eyeballs instead of on my phone’s screen. I did some REALLY productive stuff today in my free time, since I didn’t have any apps to scroll away on. I cleaned out my closet and gave away an entire (!!!!!) garbage bag full of clothes that don’t get enough love from me anymore. I also tossed out an entire box of stuff from a past relationship that had been hiding in the back of my closet for a while. Who says my “cleanse” of toxic crap had to stop at social media?
Day #7: March 19
The End
This really wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I did have a relatively busy week, though, since it was the first week back after Spring Break. I think the app I missed the most was probably Snapchat, because I like seeing pictures and videos of all the things that my far-away friends are doing throughout the day. That’s also the account I made most recently, and I’m pretty sure I could get the password sent to an email that I actually use so I could re-download that pretty easily. Overall, I’m feeling a lot happier and my phone’s battery is doing so much better than usual. I’m feeling good that I went a whole week without seeing people being ignorant about politics on Facebook, I didn’t see any racist tweets, and I didn’t have to look at anybody’s “bikini photo shoot” posts on Instagram. I feel like everybody should try a cleanse like this–even if it’s just one app or just for a couple days instead of a week. The benefits are undeniable.