My media fast was more like Jalena’s idea of a media diet
for a day. I committed to only use the
Internet for work and school, not to listen to music, and only to use my
telephone to communicate with family.
This wasn’t that different than my normal media use because lately I
rarely use social media except for this class.
I felt slightly more tempted than usual to use the Internet in other
ways just because I knew I couldn’t, but resisted. So in summary I didn’t feel like this
experience was a big change from the routine.
In the past I’ve had problems with using too much social media or
surfing aimlessly, but lately I’ve been pretty minimalist in my Internet
use.
But what the media fast did do for me was, ironically, make
me really grateful for media technology.
I started thinking how difficult it would have been for me to give up my
phone entirely by switching it off. I
use it as a watch, I use it at the supermarket to call my husband to remind me
what we decided to buy, I use it as a timer when I’m baking, I use it to talk
to my family in North Idaho (and I like to talk to them a lot). Just not being able to check the time would
have driven me crazy. What an amazing
tool!
And what if I didn’t have the Internet for schoolwork? This semester I’m taking an online section of
Physical Science. Because I just married
and my husband lives in Cedar City, I spend four days a week in Provo and go
home on Thursday afternoons for the weekend.
It was hard to find classes that didn’t meet on Friday, and if it weren’t
for my online class, I would have one less day to spend with my husband—that is
a big deal to me.
Not to mention that email and facebook let me keep in touch
with some (thought not all) of my converts in Argentina, people I have no way
of seeing.
I expected the media fast to alert me to the ways the “machines”
were controlling me. Instead it reminded
me what a tremendous blessing most media technology is, reminded me especially
of the ways it keeps me connected and even makes it easier for me to be with the people I love. We are so lucky to live
in the Digital Age.
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