Grace: I keep unlocking my phone as if I need to check something even though I do not. I noticed that without social media to check, unlocking my phone has become a habit. Whenever something funny happened I felt the need to take a snapchat of it and post it but when I unlocked my phone and realized I did not have the app, I got frustrated because I wanted to capture the moments at least for my own memories. I also noticed that snapchat is a huge form of communication for high school and college kids so without it, I feel like I’m missing out on something.
Eve: To help with the cleanse, I deleted all the apps that were considered “social media” because I knew that I would be tempted to go on it anyways. I found myself always checking my phone for notifications, or new posts from my friends. I definitely found myself going on my phone more than I would have if I had social media because I was constantly checking for notifications. Since there are only a few people that I actually text, It felt like something was missing due to the fact that I wasn’t talking to everyone that I usually talk to every day.
Jake: During the social media cleanse I noticed many things. First, I noticed that checking these social media apps was habitual. Reaching for my phone was something that I did regularly, not because I had a reason to check it but because I am so used to checking it that it is a habit to reach for it. Although, with these social media applications deleted, I had less to check. The only notifications I was receiving were text messages and emails. I noticed that when there was a break in the conversation, that is when I would find myself reaching for my phone.
Caroline: In order to avoid picking up my phone at random times, I put it on Do Not Disturb, silencing all the notifications I would get from my social media outlets. I soon realized that I would still pick up my phone, despite not getting any ding or vibration from a notification. I then moved onto deleting all the apps I gravitated towards, Instagram, Snapchat, ect. This obviously helped me not use them because they were off my phone, but I still found myself stuck in the habit of grabbing my phone at any point during the day. I eventually stopped grabbing from my phone as the hours in the days passed, but in the mornings, it would still be the first thing I gravitated towards.