The diary of a phone assignment really opened my eyes to how addicted I am to my phone. I am constantly checking it or constantly just on it even while having a conversation. This assignment lead me to understand that now a days we interact, connect, and have relationships via our phones. So much power is in such a little device. We don’t know how much we depend on our phones but our phones have all of our information that we need. Over this 48 hour period I started to get hesitant when using my phone because I knew that I would have to write it down and pull out the little notebook that lots of people would ask “What`s that for?”
How many times I used my phone: 57 times
total hours and minutes: 40 hours and 10 minutes
Total interactions: 57 textual: 4, social: 38, both: 15
Quantify activities: Snapchat, Instagram: 16 texting: 16 Music: 9 Phonecall/Facetime: 6 taking pictures: 5
Activities that were happening while using my phone: studying, meeting up with friends, class
The fact that I had to keep a little notebook and a specific pen around me wherever I went was so annoying to me. There were several occasions in which I left my pen on the table where I ate and my friends would make fun of me and say “Don`t forget your special pen!” There were also times when I pulled out my notebook to write down my interactions and people would look at me so weird.
What I have learned about myself as a user of communication technologies is that I really depend on my phone a lot. The fact that there is never a time in which I am not on my phone is so serious. The kinds of spaces that I used is more like picture posting based like Instagram and Snapchat. I found that I am on Instagram and Snapchat more than I actually text which is pretty crazy consider the fact that texting is the norm. I learned that as a digital literate I am all about posting pictures and in a way seeking attention via Instagram not a bad type of attention.
I have learned that my relationship with my phone is that I am very dependent on it. I have tried living or like not using my phone for a day and I couldn’t even remember my dad`s phone number. When I think about it the fact that I am on social websites or apps such as Instagram and Snapchat its like I have no social life but I do. I think that if another person were to read and go over my diary they would honestly think that I have no friends and that my only friends are my followers on Instagram and Snapchat. But that`s not the case at all I actually use Instagram and Snapchat to see how my old friends from high school are doing and to connect with them. The purpose of Instagram and Snapchat is to put up pictures and record videos and that`s how I see how my old friends are doing. In a way it also allows us to share our college experiences on different campuses. I was on Snapchat and Instagram way more than I was texting. When it came to phone calls and FaceTime I don’t really like talking on the phone unless its with my family or my best friend.
Clearly the way people communicate has changed and will continue to change over the years as technology expands and more social networks and media continue to grow. I think its inevitable that we will all be texting and eventually be literally living off our phones. If I took anything from this assignment its the fact that my phone controls me and I have to start being more present and drop my phone once in a while.
