Social Media Fast: Breaking A Social Norm

663 Words2 Pages

Social Media Fast
I have decided to engage in a social media fast for my entire weekend (72 hours). I disconnected from all my social media, which included Facebook, texting, Snapchat, personal email, and Soccer stars. Throughout the fast, I had anxious urges to take out my phone and check my facebook, or any messages that I might of had. I have realize I had developed a conditioned response to the social media. The moment I had become bored for a split second I had felt the urge to check what anyone was up to via social media. I had found myself communicating face-to-face more often, and I had found myself more productive than before because I did not have the distractions. One of the numerous benefits of the social media fast, it gave my …show more content…

This experience had definitely taken me out of my comfort zone. In order to get myself to break this social norm I had to tell myself that this is not who I really am. I used humor to as a tension relief, telling myself that this action that I am doing is not really a part of my identity. In this case I used self-deprecating humor where I the center of the joke. In order to maintain my self-esteem I had to preserve my perceived-self by telling myself that “I am simply playing a role of an ignorant person, I am not ignorant myself.” Having the assurance that my identity is protected, I was able to laugh about it as a way to reduce the tension in the uncomfortable situation. My initial expectation was that someone might get upset and tell me “to watch where I am going!” However that was not the way people had responded. Judging their nonverbal cues, some expressed an emotional expression of annoyance or anger, and one person expressed happiness, probably because he had seen humor in the act. While others showed a straight face, just glancing at me for a split second as they walked around me. Their priorities to be on time expressed their value for monochronicity. Reflecting on this social experiment, this is absoluting not something I enjoy doing on a daily basis. It was interesting to take the perspective of someone breaking a social norm because I had received nonverbal feedback. I could definitely see how nonverbal communication makes up to 70-93% of our meaning. I realized the importance of nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication can enhance our verbals messages by complementing our what we are describing. Nonverbals could repeat our verbal message in a different way. They could regulate the flow of an interaction, and substitute for verbal

More about Social Media Fast: Breaking A Social Norm

Open Document