Thoughts Before Beginning the Activity
Before beginning this assignment I already had predisposed thoughts about how often I’d be writing in my mini composition notebook because I knew I was going to use my phone a ton. People my age are prone to checking their phones 24/7 and I knew I’d fall under this category, no doubt. I found it to be almost crazy how often I’d have to pick up the pen to record when I was using my phone and I noticed that it’s honestly ridiculous how I’m that attached to my phone.
Quantitative Information of Phone Usage
How many times I used my phone: 70
Total hours and minutes I spent using my phone:
Textual interactions: 29
Social interactions: 25
Activities that were both social and textual: 16
Phone calls: 3
How many times I checked these things: Email (social): 1, Twitter (social): 5, Instagram (social): 8, Snapchat (social): 22, CandyCrush Saga (social): 2
Times I checked my phone during a TV show: 2
Times I checked my phone during studying: 12
Times I checked my phone during brushing my teeth: 1
Times I checked my phone during class: 5
Times I checked my phone during having a conversation with my friends: 4
Times I checked my phone during dinner: 3
Times I checked my phone during breakfast: 2
Times I checked my phone during homework: 14
Times I checked my phone while trying to sleep: 6
Times I checked my phone where nothing was interrupted: 21
Reactions to the Results and Experience I had
Q. What it was like being forced to use communication technologies (the notebook and pen) while using another communication technology (the phone)?
A. At times it honestly got quite confusing for me that I had to use the notebook and the pen while I was using my phone and at times I felt a bit discombobulated. Using three different types of technology at once got pretty time consuming. It was annoying that every time I used my phone, I HAD to use the pen and notebook along with it but if it was flipped around where I just was using a notebook and pen whenever, and I HAD to use my phone, I would not have a problem with that because it would not be an annoyance to me since I already use my phone all the time, nothing would be different. I did feel as if I had no flexibility in what I was using (relating to the pen and notebook) because I couldn’t just use anything, I had to use the specific pen and the specific notebook in order to complete the assignment so in a way, I did feel trapped. I did not change how much I used my phone during the assignment because I thought it was annoying to keep writing down whenever I used my phone because I honestly wanted to see how much I was using it so I did not want to alter myself in any way.
Q. What have you learned about yourself as a user of communication technologies?
A. I feel as if I have learned a lot about myself as a user of communication technologies. It’s obvious that I use my phone too much but I actually think I thought I used it more than this but I’m sure the amount of times I use my phone fluctuates a lot because of what is going on in my life at the time. It made me realize that I am big on social media apps (such as Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter) rather than talking to people on the phone. I think it proved that I’m clearly very digitally literate. Also, text messaging (iMessage) is something I did a lot because I am always communicating with my friends. I definitely think that I balanced out my textual and social interactions.
Q. What have you learned about your relationship with your phone? What does it afford you that other communication technologies might not? How and why has it become so in your life (if you think it has)? Did you use the spaces for self promotion or selfies or other very specific activities?
A. I would have to define my relationship with my phone one that is inseparable.I find myself always reaching for my phone basically whenever I have the time to and even when I really don’t have the time to, I still use it. It 100% distracts me when I know I could be paying attention but I am so glued to my phone that I feel the need to always want to check it. It has become such a big part of my life because I think my generation is the one where people started to get phones in middle school and ever since then, we all have become so connected that way. I am always contacting my friends via my cellphone and when all the new applications came out, it intrigued my generation and everyone has taken full advantage of them. On Snapchat I take selfies and send funny pictures to my friends but I don’t use any social media apps for self promotion. I just do not feel a need to do that but I do Instagram pictures but never of myself, my friends are always in them and I just enjoy sharing what I’m doing with my friends. Digital literacy has become so important in today’s day and age and I definitely think I am fully competent in that. For example, my parents cannot do half the things I do on my cellphone. Having a phone so close to me just feels like I can connect with people so quickly, rather than using other forms of communication such as sending a letter. When you communicate by sending letters, it is just such a slow way of communication when with using a phone, you can communicate with someone in one second and I think that’s what appeals to me the most.