This week in class our discussions have provoked me to think deeper about the role of the web, technology, and social media in my life. One specific idea, the fact that most for most people, the first thing they in the morning and the last thing at night is their phone. In the last week my life has been extremely busy, particularly coordinating my friend’s and their lives from nine in the morning until we all can go to sleep. Part of me has always been an organizer and one who wants to help, but it has meant that I am tied to my phone twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This is a new phenomenon to me as I didn’t take this role with my friends in high school. While in high school, I worried a lot about the time I spent on social medias, and the persona I wished to preform as on social media. But as of late, social media has taken a secondary role to the text connections I make through group chats all day long. This is a bit frustrating because I feel like I could make much more meaningful interactions with my friends if it was in face to face interactions. Yet I lose those genuine connections to the screen and get frustrated when our lack of efficient communication leaves people out or leads to us failing a task.
To start the day, I begin by looking at my phone and checking the group text. I also am typically too tired to get up immediately so this is usually one of the times that I look at social media during the day. As of late, this stretch of being on my phone has made me slower to get up and in the shower, so I am a few minutes behind to my first task of the day. This is definitely something I want to correct. At breakfast, and all other meals for that matter, I get a break from my phone usually to sit down with a friend. Throughout the day, my only other breaks from my phone are my classes. These periods are some of the my favorite of the day because it feels like a break from all the madness. It is tough however, to narrow my focus at these times on what I need to learn and truly pay attention to. I sometimes feel my focus shifting and I know this will have major negative affects on my grades and academic success. I also feel that my relationships with people outside of that direct circle are fading. One of my goals for the year was to be a better family members and I don’t think I’m doing the best job so far and technology has played a major part in that.
