After logging my social media usage for two days, I did have some realizations about my daily media habits. Overall, the biggest problem I have is not an addiction to social media as much as a tendency to use it as a tool to procrastinate … a lot. It doesn’t distract me when I’m with my friends, but I do tend to gravitate towards my phone when I’m bored.

Friday morning before class, I spent a pretty large chunk of time scrolling through social media: Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Buzzfeed, Youtube, etc. I do this almost every morning, procrastinating on getting up and actually starting the day and going to class. I finally went to class at 10 a.m., and I use my laptop to take notes in both of my Friday classes. Also, both of these professors use PowerPoints, videos, and photos in their lessons. It was interesting thinking back to the beginning of college when I was really hesitant to take notes on a laptop. I thought it would just make it harder to remember the material, but now I love typing notes.

Later that day, I ran errands with my roommate and had to use my phone as a GPS. Logging my social media activity made me realize how often I do this. I’m slowly learning my way around Athens but would be very lost without my phone telling me where to go.  I also noticed that whenever I’m doing a mundane task, like getting ready, I usually either play music or turn on Netflix. It’s kind of scary to think that I may need to have my mind occupied at all times.

Saturday was an extremely busy day, and I spent a lot of time scrolling through social media in the morning, since I didn’t have any classes. I went to breakfast then, again, listened to music and watched Netflix as I got ready for the day. Then, I went to the art museum with a few friends and had to take photos for an art project. We went to lunch, and were pretty much all scrolling and showing each other random posts on Twitter and Instagram.

A lot of conversations seem to be enhanced by social media. Like, if you were telling a someone about something your friend did, you may show them a video or a picture of the friend if they don’t know them. A group of friends and I went to the Athens Botanical Gardens and the Iron Horse, and just hung out in one of our dorms. Some of us hadn’t met before, and a lot of the conversation incorporated social media in that way.

I think that I do need to find other things to when I’m bored besides scrolling through social media. It’s almost as if I have an instinct to reach for my phone or laptop when there’s nothing to do. I always complain that I don’t have time to do other things, like drawing or reading, but I may have the time if I stop automatically picking up my phone.