Please read the instructions attached and follow them carefully.
Please read the instructions and follow them carefully.
Eliminate all media technology from your life for one week. No radio, TV, recorded music, movies, or internet of any kind. No streaming, no social media, be it Tik Tok, Instagram, Snapchat or any other platform. No Youtube. No listening to anything while in your car. No checking news headlines or following sports. No blogs. No podcasts. No electronic games of any kind, video or otherwise. No "shows", no weather reports. Phone calls are ok, but no FaceTime or any other video chatting. Your smartphone is to become a dumb phone. Keep texting to an absolute minimum. Reading is fine, in fact encouraged. It just can't be done via any electronic format. I realize that school and work requirements will not allow many of you to be completely offline, but keep it to the absolute minimum. You can probably cut out much more than you think. Prepare family, friends, bosses, etc, for your digital absence to minimize worry and stress.
Try not to ask others what is going on in the world, or to tune in to the digital noise around you. You could consider asking some of your closest friends, or those you live with, to participate with you in the experiment when you are around. This will make it easier, and your experience more profound.
Write a short paper--about 3 pages double spaced, not including title page or abstract page, in which you describe how you experienced that week. Please include a title and abstract page. (No need for a reference page as you are not expected to have any references for this paper. You are just reflecting on your own experiences.) After you have learned what you need to do for this unit, go without the media listed from Monday, Nov 7, through Sunday, Nov 13. I will give you one week after you complete the experiment to finish your paper.
I am not requiring that you follow any particular format. I just want clear, concise writing, free of mechanical errors. Find your own voice. This should be an enjoyable write, reflecting on the unusual state you were in. Your paper should be no longer than 5 double spaced pages.
Some possible issues for discussion are:
What your normal media routine is
What you did and did not miss
What you did with the extra time
What the experience taught you
How your interactions with others were affected
How your moods were affected
What if anything you plan to change about your media habits going forward
Remember, the state you will be putting yourself in was the state everyone was in all the time not that long ago.
