Addict Unplugged

Last Friday, I read an article by Craig Kanalley of the Huffington Post: "National Day of Unplugging" about unplugging from social media for 24 hours. I decided to go ahead and take part in the unplugging and report my experience.

First off, I read the article wrong. It said, "from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday." I started at midnight Friday night and went to midnight the next night. Oops!

A screen shot of my phone.

I have made social media a huge part of my life within the last six months, or so, because I'm trying to build my own online brand: ChickOpinion. I blog almost every morning, I tweet all the time, I'm on Facebook multiple times a day, I'm on Pinterest a lot, I play Words with Friends constantly, and I'm trying to increase my presence on Instagram, Google+, and the New Myspace. Even since I started this post, I've checked my Twitter a few times, Facebook once, and played in two Words with Friends games.

On Saturday, I woke up around 6:00am and immediately turned my phone on. My "routine" is to check Twitter for the headlines even when I'm still laying in bed! I almost hit my Twitter app and then remembered that I couldn't do social media. For a second I thought, "But how am I supposed to know what's going on in the world?!" Panic. But then I realized that I have the ABC app, the CNN app, and the WCPO (local ABC) app. So my headlines were saved!

My fiancé and I went to Louisville for the day to meet with our wedding ceremony officiant, as well as celebrate my dad's birthday and my fiancé's little brother's birthday. On the two hour car ride there, I kept getting Words with Friends notifications and couldn't play! My fiancé and I actually talked the whole way there instead of our usual car ride protocol: Josh listening to Pandora while I mess around on my phone. It was nice!

After we talked with our officiant, I was desperate to tweet about our ceremony plans! I was so excited and wanted to share it with everyone! But I didn't.

We celebrated with my family and then drove to Josh's family's house. On that 30 minute drive, I can't tell you how many times I reached for my phone to check Twitter or Facebook. I kept stopping myself, but it started making me realize just how addicted I am to social media.

On the way home we hit traffic. The last 10 miles on the interstate before we got to our exit took us 50 minutes. This is where the mistake of "sundown to sundown" came back to bite me. It was 8:30pm and dark; I was thinking how great it would be if I could get on Twitter to see what was going on with the traffic. Turns out that I could have checked!

Sunday morning when I woke up I realized I'd had a dream about not being able to tweet. I had 27 new notifications on my social media networks.

But now I have a bit of a conundrum: I don't have a job, so I'm doing a lot of online stuff to try to make money: blogging, Etsy, and writing articles. But when I'm anxious to the point of having nightmares about not having my phone with me so I can tweet...I think something is wrong.

I grew up without TV until I was 16. I didn't have a cell phone until my senior year of high school. How is it that someone who grew up knowing only the "little things" in life that you have when you don't have a screen in front of your face, be so addicted only eight years later?

How do you build your online presence to the point of being successful without becoming addicted?

This is something I am definitely going to explore. I feel like a lot of people must have felt this way on Saturday. Yes, I'm committed to building my online presence, but I really enjoyed getting to spend time with my family without having my phone glued to my hand. There has to be a happy medium, and I'm going to find it.

I have no intention of living every moment of my life with a phone in my hand, but I have every intention of being incredibly successful.

Did you take part in the National Day of Unplugging? What's your story?

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Social Media: Overshare?

Wow! I just have to say "thank you" to everyone who read yesterday's post--there were over 300 views yesterday alone, and now I'm up over 2,200 total! I've only had this blog up for a month and I am just so excited that it's getting such positive feedback!

I got to thinking about why my blog is doing so well and realized that I would be completely unknown without social networking sites. (Granted, the photos yesterday didn't hurt my views, but I don't really think that's the reason people read my blog.) This morning, I heard that Justin Timberlake is revitalizing Myspace and launching it soon. This is the link to "The New Myspace" preview video. It looks like it's going to be a music sharing/event making/store/hanging out site. In light of this event, I got to looking at the social media scene, and all of the sites I'm on and what I use them for.

http://www.solveitmedia.com

Facebook: This is definitely the social media site I spend the most time on. I am connected with my family who lives all over the U.S., friends from all over the world, and people I've met at professional conferences or educational events.
Pros: Easy to connect with family. Great photo uploading. User friendly.
Cons: It seems boring; I've been on it for over five years and I don't know if it's because I'm older and have better things to do than creep on people or if the site is really just losing its luster, but it's not as interesting as it used to be. Also, I never know what privacy setting has changed; I feel like I read the "terms" every week just to make sure I'm not missing something.

Twitter: I love Twitter for updates that seem kind of silly. I don't necessarily need to post a whole Facebook status about it, but I still want to share or comment.
Pros: Super easy to use. Easier than FB to connect with celebs.

Cons: From what I've observed, people spend less time reading profiles on Twitter, so it's harder to promote yourself or a product. It's also kind of impersonal; just a list of random one-liners.

http://www.emersonsocialmedia.com

Google+: I only use Google+ for promoting my blog and work-related stuff. (Also, I have YouTube; love that.)

Pros: It's connected to Blogger. Hangouts look like fun.

Cons: It's not user-friendly at all. I really don't like the way it's organized. Also, it's not as clean as FB so a lot of people didn't switch/add Google+ when it came out, because why should they? They have a social networking site that they know and love.

Pinterest: LOVE! :) This is pretty much how I'm planning my wedding and getting ideas for what I want to do with my apartment. I love this site.

Pros: It's so easy to use. It's fun. There are so many links to other sites I would never find with out Pinterest.

Cons: Every single thing you pin shows up under your name if you Google yourself. Interesting. 

Recovery Record: BEST APP EVER for people recovering from eating disorders! I use it every day and try to log all my meals! It's great.

Pros: You get rewards (songs) for logging your meals. You can "pair-up" with someone else and give them virtual gifts. It's FREE. You get encouragement emailed to you if you don't log for a couple days and it's really sweet. It's exciting and makes you want to log your meals and get better. It's customizable for your particular needs.

Cons: Again, pseudonyms are the only thing allowed, so you can't really connect with people even if they sound super cool. Sometimes there are glitches and you don't get them fixed until they send out an update.

http://hazellcottrell.com/category/social-media/

Little Monsters: Joined it yesterday to promote my blog since it was about Lady Gaga.

Pros: If you love Gaga, that's the place to be. It's nice to see young people coming together and sharing their problems without any criticism or bullying.

Cons: It is so emo. I'm a little old for the site, I think. 

LinkedIn: Professional social networking site. I have one, but don't use it a whole lot.

Pros: My resume is uploaded. Everyone can see my qualifications for jobs.

Cons: I've had this site for 5 years and have never had someone call me for a job.

The Knot: Wedding site!!! :)

Pros: It has so many ideas! We can have our own wedding site and blog. It gives you a timeline and to do list!

Cons: Honestly, I don't know if it's worth it. I have found a lot more ideas on Pinterest than The Knot, and I have this blog, why would I make another one? 

Fitocracy: This is like an RPG for fitness! It's awesome! I use it every time I work out.

Pros: You don't have to use your real name. You can upload photos. You can give other people "props." Join fitness events in your area. Join groups that relate to your fitness goals.

Cons: Doesn't tell you why you get more points for some exercises and less for others. There aren't a lot of people on it yet, so you have to mostly connect with people you don't know.

PatientsLikeMe: Track your symptoms and see other users who are going through the same thing! I used this a lot when I started having more medical problems. I don't use it much anymore, but I really liked it.

Pros: Awesome graphs. Tons of conditions listed.

Cons: No real names allowed, so if you really want to talk to someone about something, you don't really have a way to do that. Not very user friendly.

http://nowsourcing.com/2010/03/17/social-media-infographic/

So, these are all the social sites I'm on. Social media and social networking is great, but this is kind of crazy! I know that it's the only reason my blog is read, but at the same time, I don't go out and hang out with people, because I'm working on my profiles all the time. Also, none of these are private! Anyone can search and find all of this about me. I don't regret any of it; I feel like I've been very true to myself and I'm honest on everything. It just seems a little bit creepy that I've allowed all of these sites to have access to my information and keep it even after I cancel my accounts.

Our world is moving forward so quickly and social media and social networking is a HUGE part of it! It seems like being social is the exact opposite now of what it used to be: You used to have to try to be noticed; now you have to try really hard to stay anonymous. So, my life is pretty much displayed online; that's typical for our generation. But is it safe? Is it smart? When is privacy more important than sharing everything online?

myspace.com

I asked for an invite to the new Myspace. :)

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi