The Assignment:
By some estimates, young adults have their digital devices connected to Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and so on, for more than six hours a day—so for many it’s almost a full-time job just monitoring social media networks. Then another three to four hours are spent enjoying various media, like music or the news, digitally. So, can you turn off all your digital gizmos for a day? What would that be like?
So pick a day, and keep notes along the way. A weekend might work because you could find some things to do that don’t require your smartphone or computer (go to a theme park, take a long walk, attend a lecture, go to the library, hang out with friends, volunteer your time, visit an old person, call a grandparent on an actual land-line phone, take a long nap). Or you could use some old media: read a book, go to a movie, watch a TV show on an actual television set, read a printed newspaper or magazine. Best of all, observe how others around you are using digital media, and take notes. However, a weekday might also work because you could distract yourself by taking notes by hand (and a professor or two might actually use social media in class, which would give you a temporary fix to get you through the day).
Let’s get started! Click the forward and backward arrows to navigate through the slides. You may also click the above outline button to skip to certain slides.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.