Page 1-Anna Smollen
Before starting the phone interactivity activity, I was nervous about what the results would be. I knew that I was addicted to my phone, but I didn’t want to find out just how addicted I actually was. I wasn’t too appalled by the results in the end, but I realized just how often I use my phone and how much I’m missing and interrupting.
- How many times I used my phone: 56 times
- Total number of hours and minutes I spent on my phone: 6 hours and 31 minutes
- Textual interactivities: 20; social interactivities: 21; both interactivities: 15
- Breakdown of textual interactivities:
- checked time: 7
- alarms: 6
- timer: 2
- games: 1
- Breakdown of social interactivites:
- Snapchat: 8
- texting: 14
- phone calls: 1
- Group Me: 2
- Vine: 4
- Yik Yak: 6
- Instagram: 6
- Breakdown of both interactivities:
- email: 7
- Zite: 1
- Pocket: 1
- Twitter: 5
- Facebook: 6
- Tumblr: 1
- Breakdown of textual interactivities:
- Activities happening while I was on my phone:
- walking: 9
- homework: 13
- waiting in elevator: 2
- waiting for class to start: 5
- class: 1
- nothing: 5
- exercising: 1
- watching TV: 3
- cleaning: 1
- sleeping: 7
- getting ready for class: 2
- laundry: 1
- lunch: 1
- dinner: 2
- reading: 1
- going to bed: 1
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Page 5-Anna Smollen
Conquering the World With a Notebook and a Pen (and a Phone)
I have always been curious about how much I actually use my phone. This assignment gave me the chance to actually discover this information, and also allowing me to compare my findings to my classmates. I found that I use my notebook an average amount which was nice for me to find out because I thought that I was an excessive user. I first thought that it would be difficult to remember to always write in the notebook, but I got used to it fairly quickly. I use my phone so often I thought I would just be going back and forth between my phone and the notebook constantly.
Being forced to use two separate (and very different) communication technologies was kind of weird. I use my phone all the time throughout the day to do many kinds of tasks. I had no choice but to record what I was doing on my phone for the sake of the assignment. The notebook was almost like a ball and chain. For those 48 hours, I couldn’t use my phone without needing the notebook. I also had to write down specific information for each usage, something that offered no flexibility. If I was only able to use the apps that came with my phone, I think I might go crazy. Not having control over certain things makes me impatient.
The first half of the day I had the notebook and pen, I thought I was doing well with writing all of my interactions down. Then I started getting lazy. Not with writing interactions down, but with using my phone. A majority of my interactions are usually just glances at my phone. Once I had to spend a minute or two writing something down for a two second interaction I just didn’t feel like doing it anymore. This assignment therefore did change the amount of times that I used my phone. I didn’t lose the notebook or pen at all during the duration of the assignment. A few days after the assignment ended, I had a frustrating situation occur with my phone that proved how little control I actually have. I had just changed the passcode that lets me into my phone, and I forgot the passcode soon after setting it. I tried all of the possible passcodes for the next few hours, but my phone unfortunately got disabled and I had to restart and reinstall everything back onto my phone. This experience made me realize how little control I have over technology just because of a simple four-digit passcode.
I have learned that I am a frequent user of communication, specifically social media. I am always checking several different social media sites. As a communicator, I often look at things rather than contributing to them. I like to see what people are up to and social media is a way to do that. As a user of technology, I think that I am able to use and understand most platforms of apps on iPhones and other kinds of technology.
I believe that I am quite attached to my phone. I’ll admit that it is quite hard for me to not have my phone with me at all times. I have a fear of missing things, and so if I don’t have my phone for a bit I wouldn’t want to have missed something important. Having my phone allows me to always be contacted through many different applications. I also like to take pictures, so having a phone with such a good camera allows me to take photos whenever and wherever easily. I have become dependent on it and I think that’s why it is such a prominent thing in my life. I use it for many different occasions now such as taking notes, setting reminders, studying, reading, listening to music, watching videos, entertainment, playing games, using it as an alarm clock, and of course communicating. I use several different social media platforms that are self promoting, but I don’t really see it as that. I use Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat to share experiences through photos and videos with people I want to keep in touch with. Overall, my phone offers easy and constant access to anything I want (or that I have on my phone). It’s easy to carry around because it’s not as big as a laptop, iPad, or other communicative technologies.