Katie Coen

I knew giving up something I use everyday would be difficult, but I clearly underestimated how it would feel when it came to social media. This week, I decided to give up Twitter for five days. I found myself feeling empty and bored, even though I could use other social media platforms. 

Twitter is the place where I have always gotten my news. Since high school, I have been addicted to scrolling through the endless tweets and threads. When reading chapter 6 of “Stolen Focus” by Johann Hari, he discussed the person that created this “infinite scroll.” Aza Raskin wrote the code to enable one to continuously scroll with no end. After it started to be used, he saw a change in the people around him.

“They seemed to be unable to pull themselves away from their devices, flickering through and through and through, thanks in part to the code he had designed.”

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Since I started using social media in fourth grade, I have found myself disconnected from the world at times. When I’m with friends or family, I spend my time on my phone scrolling rather than having meaningful conversations. So I challenged myself to give up one of the apps I have been using for years.

I started my first day by scrolling through the notifications on my phone. Without thinking, I clicked on a Twitter notification about a news story. When the app opened, I immediately remembered my challenge and opened another social media app.

That day was hard for me. I did my school work and had some meetings, but I kept seeing the notifications pop up on my phone. They would distract me from whatever task I was working on. I felt like I was missing out on the conversations and the news spreading through the app after just one day.

The second day was even harder. I got so frustrated by the notifications that I deleted the app off my phone. Out of sight, out of mind, or so I thought. I got to work on that Wednesday to find my coworkers talking about the latest Twitter trends. I couldn’t escape. 

The days continued on and I continued to think about what I was missing. The hardest part for me was not seeing all the news that was happening nationally and around the world. I found myself reading New York Times articles online because I couldn’t see their tweets. But after my fourth day, I felt like I had removed Twitter from my routine. I didn’t see the app or notifications because it was deleted off my phone. I noticed I was conversing more with my roommates rather than eating in silence as I read hundreds of short blurbs. 

As I reflect on my experience without Twitter, I think about how it would benefit me more to give up other social media apps along with Twitter. I also think about how pursuing a career in journalism forces me to have a presence on social media. Twitter is how journalists promote themselves and show off their work. It is also how many people I know got their jobs. I think there are many pros to using Twitter, especially as a communications student, but I know I should limit my usage. In the future, I think I could find a way to only use Twitter and other social media at certain times of the day. That way I could still use it for my personal and professional benefits, but I would also experience breaks.

Source

Hari, Johann. Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again. Crown, 2022.