After

Grace: I enjoyed time away from social media but I noticed things that I am used to doing while the apps were deleted from my phone. For example, I realized I can go without Instagram but most likely not Snapchat because I like to save memories from nights out and look back on them. In addition, Snapchat is an easy source of communication for college kids so I felt as though I missed out on communication with friends for plans and also could not keep in touch with friends I wouldn’t call day to day. On a positive note, my screen time day to day went down by 30% which is huge and I noticed that without the distraction of social media where I log in and spend an hour mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, I can get my work done faster and be more productive. 

Eve: As I thought it would be, the cleanse was pretty hard for me. I noticed how dependant I am on my phone and social media apps, which is sad to think about but the reality of society today. The app that affected me the most not using was Snapchat. I use Snapchat all day as a way to communicate with people who I do not text on the daily. Not only do I use it for communication, I also use it to see what other people’s plans are, from viewing their stories. Although it was hard to not use social media, I realized how much more focused it made me, and it made me really live in the moment which was good timing because it was parents weekend. I spent much less time wasting my day just sitting on my phone wasting the day which was a good feeling. It was a good thing to experiment with, and I am happy I did the cleanse, but I definitely don’t think I would want to make it a recurring thing.

Jake: After the cleanse, I realized that checking the applications on my phone was a habit. Once I actually clicked on the apps, I would stay a long time on them and check what people were up to and communicate with my friends. However, with the way our generation uses social media it was harder for me to communicate with certain people because the only way we communicate is through one of these social media apps. Reflecting back on the cleanse, I was surprised at how many times I caught myself reaching for my phone to check notifications from Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media apps that I use.

​Caroline: After completing the cleanse, I saw the impact social media had on my everyday life. Not only do I go on it to stay up to date with news and my friends, I realized how much I will just grab my phone and subconsciously go on it, without needing a notification to catch my eye. I liked the cleanse, it helped me focus more on conversations and school work. It also made me realize how much my peers were drawn to their phones and social media. I would see them continue to grab their phone while I was talking to them, and quickly realized how awkward I felt, knowing I wasn’t going to grab my phone and stop talking to them. Overall, this social media cleanse showed me a lot about the impact apps and communication with others had on my life, and how a cleanse once and a while is a good thing.