Blog Assignment 2: The Diet!

Personal Log, Stardate -310445.06

This is the Second Assignment Blog post of the OpinionNium. The mission is to survive 48 hours of isolation from social media interaction. Social Media, the medium to explore the galaxies of interaction, to seek out new life and new civilizations. I shall be cut off from my technology and my environment, adrift aimlessly in space…or is there more?

 Log Supplemental: I have survived.

Maybe using the Star Trek reference seems a bit over the top but seriously, WAS Dr. McCoy really a doctor of medicine? All his medical diagnostic and treatment equipment where based on technology. Mr. Spock, Science Officer, relied on tricorder deductions. Hmmm.

Social Media is a frontier. Its borders are the limits of its present technology but that is constantly evolving and with it human interaction. The more we use it, the more we demand from it, the broader the universe becomes, until we can’t see the horizon line or realize how entrenched it is in our daily lives.

I have taken sabbaticals before. Before the internet broadband towers were installed at Algonquin Park any service along the corridor was drastically unreliable and so I would separate myself from my cell phone or Travelling Laptop (yes, that is my name for it). When we vacation in the States I refuse to pay the atrocious roaming fees so I unplug from my media tools. So 48 hours was kinda easy peasy. Only, I have never had to deny myself at home. It’s always been while I am “away” and somehow “away” creates a psychology my brain says “Ok. But when we get back…” only in this instance, I was already back.

Oh my.

I didn’t warn anyone that I was on a sabbatical. I won’t call it a diet because a diet still lets you eat….this was a FAST. I wanted to see if anyone reacted. I am not consistently on social media so I didn’t expect to be on anyone’s radar. Only one girlfriend noticed. She inadvertently texted me on Friday to find out my weekend plans. But I was already fasting. So about two hours later she texted a question “Are you mad at me?”

Background: when she texts me, I am pretty good to answer her within a reasonable time.

On Facebook or Twitter, no one noticed I was missing in action…I am not sure anyone has ever noticed that I am in action since my actions on those platforms are so rare.

Are you mad at me? My girlfriend assumed there was something wrong…with her…with us. My battery could have quit, I might have forgotten to change my volume after work, I could have fallen asleep, my cell phone might be malfunctioning. An endless list of possible, genuine and reasonable reasons I might not return a text. But she took it personal…or at least worried my silence was a rejection. When I discovered her messages on Sunday evening I have to admit I felt sad that she thought I was upset with her. She had become so conditioned to us reaching back and forth, miles apart from each other, that when it wasn’t there she initially thought the only wrong with us - was her. I texted her and let her know why I hadn’t answered. Everything is cool as she texted back “Ok. Weird but glad”.

Social media really is a frontier; not only globally wide-open and technically overwhelming with choices but difficult because something so seemingly impersonal potentially can be construed as very personal. A blog is just an opinion of sorts but it invites interaction. Would you care if someone ever reads your blog? Why post it public if you don’t? You can easily keep a handwritten diary or a word document if it’s just to put down your hopes, dreams, opinions. We blog in the hopes that someone out there will read it…and interact with us. First contact. Aliens in space. I don’t think it is about being lonely. We always make that presumption that something is missing from the lives of people who spend so much time using social media. That they don’t have lives. But the truth is the social media is a component of their real lives. Curiosity leads us to seek like-minded and exchange. You talk to your neighbor over a fence about the flowers in your garden…or you talk to a global neighbor on the other side of planet earth about the flowers in your garden. Perception.

I wanted to go onto Facebook. See what friends were up to. Just because I don’t post much, doesn’t mean I don’t like to read posts or check up with conversations on social forums. But I didn’t.

I planted flowers, transplanted bushes, burned up wood I had wanted to get rid of while listening to loons out on the lake and ate my first s'more ever. I wasn’t compelled to check my cell phone like it was a parole officer. There was only a little withdrawal. The very, very, very best part was in the moments I didn’t really have anything to do…I just enjoyed doing nothing. Off the diet, I would have been on my cell scrolling or trolling. Instead, I discovered the wonderful art of doing nothing and that watching clouds is quite fascinating.

I am now on a diet. I am watching what personal time my social media eats so that I don’t get fat on it and thin on life. I pay attention to why I am using social media. I am looking for balance. I liked the simplicity so I plan on keeping it. I liked the inner peace.

I am going to go see my girlfriend.

References

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1. Meme Generator http://memegenerator.net/Dr-Mccoy