Media Fast

Media Fast – Sunday, October 10. (Braindump)

Before fasting i was worried about having to do it. I don’t like not being able to check my phone og my computer, especially my phone.

As I started out with my fasting I decided to really try and not look on either my phone or my computer and a I turned out I wasn’t that difficult. But I think a lot of it has to do with several things coming together. First of all I was not home alone that Sunday; Thomas by boyfriends was visiting and could keep me company while fasting. Second my mother didn’t call or text me that day, I would have been very difficult if not impossible not to reply to her if she had tried to reach me, as I have recently moved from Copenhagen to Aarhus, even further away from my parents who life in the south Zealand, and I would not want to worry her by not replying, and I know she would get worried if she didn’t hear back from me. Third, it was a Sunday (could have been a Saturday as well) but not during the week as I have many school obligations and homework plus volunteer work at an online magazine which makes it impossible for me not to be online or on my phone. So it is really not something I could do every day, and I felt like I had to do a lot of planning up to the fasting, so it would be possible for me to not go online – preparations like checking my online schedule for changes, during the homework that required me to go online, talk to my mother on the phone, as any one of these could make me break my fast if they appeared during the day.

Throughout the day I only look at my phone twice, once in the morning to get the time and once before I went to sleep to set my alarm clock, and even though I noticed notifications and emails I didn’t check them, but I felt very excited to wake up the next day and see what I have missed during my fast.

vLog:

After having fasted from my media use, I was supposed to do a vlog reflecting on this fast, as part of an assignment. But, after having done a vlog on reflection on my media tracking, I decided not to do a vlog for this part of th research of my media use. My experience with the first vlog made me aware of the fact that I don’t get any new information from the vlog, other than the information already written down. I prefer writing as I gives me time to think about and edit me reflections, having to do a vlog for the tracking part I found that I had to do a manuscript (and practice it) before during the actual vlog. I felt very uncomfortable being videotaped (and knowing that video would be made public on youtube for the world to see) and that anxiety overshadowed the data I would gain from the log. The observation I did while doing the vlog was the preparations before the actual log, being aware of everything present (visible) in the shot and that those items will affect other peoples view on me (therefore I edited them so that they would reflect me in a way I found suiting, fx. Making the bed), and I did a manuscript of the vlog – not a psychical manuscript but a mental one, as the vlog was very short, only a couple of minutes, but I created this manuscript in my head, going over it several times of what the vlog would contain and in which order, then I taped it several times before feeling comfortable publishing it, all though I would have been most comfortable only posting a written log and not a videotaped one. I felt that I would have to do all the same things again, if I had to do another vlog, and as I felt like it was more of a duty than a gain for me, I chose this time to express myself with written words instead of a video (as the things I actually said on the vlog the last time, was ‘taken/manuscripted’ from already written down words, they were not natural coming from whatever I felt or thought in the moment, but were carefully selected and manuscripted words). 

Media Fast:

Sunday, October 10th, 2013

11.08

I click on my phone to see the time ( I don’t have a clock other than on my phone and computer à well, I do have a small watch, but I didn’t feel like finding it in my closet in order to just check the time).

I see a notification on Facebook, but not what it says, I think that it is probably from my friend Andrea, as we started a conversation on FB yesterday. I don’t read it, I decided not to check mt phone or my computer the entire day as part of my media fasting.

Thomas is lying next to me and browsing through his phone (FB, Instagram etc. I would imagine), and I am trying not to look at his phone as I would like to fast entirely from media this day.

Ca. 15.00

Thomas and I are going out and I deliberately leave my phone at home, so I will not be able to check if for a while (and I know that Thomas has got his phone with him, in case something happens were we need to use the phone, so this creates a sort of safety net for me).

21.45

I haven’t looked at my phone or my computer the entire day, but I have to set the alarm clock for tomorrow morning, so I will have to break the fast now in order to do it.

While setting the alarm clock I noticed both FB notifications and several emails but I didn’t check them even though I wanted to.

Having to fast from media hasn’t been as difficult as I expected – but I think a lot of it has to do with it being a Sunday, as I would not be able not to check my phone and computer during a busy week with school obligations etc.

Still I can’t wait to end my fast tomorrow and get up to date with everything I missed today.