From 02/17/2020 9pm to 02/18/2020 9pm I spent 24 hours without my phone and Internet. I listed my schedule of this 24 hours below.
| Time Period | Work |
| 02/17 9pm-11:30pm | Reading |
| 02/17 11:30-02/18 8am | Sleep |
| 02/18 8am-11:45am | Reading + Assignment |
| 02/18 11:45am-1:00pm | Class |
| 02/18 1:00pm-2:00pm | Lunch |
| 02/18 2:00pm-2:30pm | Career Service |
| 02/18 2:30pm-5:00pm | Rest at Home |
| 02/18 5:00pm-9:00pm | Reading+Assignment at Home |
As you can see, It is an ordinary day of a graduate student’s life. Internet is not necessary for all of these events. However, 24 hours without internet still caused some inconveniences for a modern human being in 21th century:
- Feeling bored when resting alone without internet. I cannot browse the Youtube and any social media which made me feel isolated from the world.
- Afraid of missing some important messages and emails, it bring me anxiety to some degrees.
- I have to download all the things I need in the next 24 hours to my laptop in advance and I also have to check the list carefully to prevent missing things.
- Without internet means I have to stay alone for the whole day because I cannot contact with any of my friends and they cannot find me as well.
- Feeling sorry because I thought my family and friends will worry about me if they cannot find me. (Not Actually)
In summary, life without the internet brought me more anxiety at mental level instead of the true obstacles in my real life.
As an international student from China, I have to say that it’s more easier to live without internet in U.S. than in China. In the last decades, the physical environment in China has been shaped by internet dramatically. With the rise of mobile payments, smart phones are necessities for almost anything in life. For example, sometimes you have to wait more than an hour outside a restaurant if you haven’t made the reservation online in advance, on the contrary you can even get a discount if you help the restaurant post their information on your social media. In U.S. you can use credit card to make the payment but in China most small stores and restaurants refuse to take cards, the only thing they accept is mobile payment. Moreover, mobile payment allows you to use multiple modes of transports to travel, without it, you have to buy different bus cards to use those different transports. In other words, it is difficult to live in China without Internet and smart phones.
In TED talk, Turkle argues that people should have more “real” conversation rather than communication through social media. Nevertheless, social media is playing a more and more significant role in people’s social life, and there are also rules that you have to obey. For example, sometimes phone calls are considered as interruptions and messages are more acceptable. Responding to messages timely is considered polite, and vice versa.
In conclusion, I think my relationship with my phone and internet is quite opposite to the word “addiction”. I really enjoy the “real” conversation with others and observing the world without the lens of technologies like internet. I often miss my childhood although the world is small at that time. Nevertheless, technologies have completely changed the world and the way people live, so actually the choice is not in your hands.