University Declares a Week Without Social Media

[RaggedyAnn]

University Declares A Week Without Social Media

"What if one day Facebook, Twitter and Instant Messenger just weren't there?
Provost Eric Darr of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania tells NPR's Guy Raz that he wanted his students to not only think about this question, but live it."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=129813420

I think this is great. Students who participate will learn great lessons not only in communication, but in time management.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

I think this is great. Students who participate will learn great lessons not only in communication, but in time management.

Trust me, those of us who went to college without facebook, Twither, instant messaging and *gasp* even cell phones had plenty of other ways to mismanage our time.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Trust me, those of us who went to college without facebook, Twither, instant messaging and *gasp* even cell phones had plenty of other ways to mismanage our time.

And, quite honestly, did not communicate all that well, which is why we are so thrilled to "find" so many old friends on Facebook now, 20+ years later.

[RaggedyAnn]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Trust me, those of us who went to college without facebook, Twither, instant messaging and *gasp* even cell phones had plenty of other ways to mismanage our time.

LOL, I did go to college back then. You forgot we didn't have email and had to hide in closets if we wanted to have a private conversation, because the phones were still attached to the wall.

I do agree that FB is a great tool to get back in touch with people that you don't really have time for daily interactions with, but when I took classes over the last couple of years, it would drive me bonkers when students were texting while professors were lecturing (because I had to keep hearing all the buzzing) and couldn't believe when students took calls during class. It was often difficult to get a computer in the lab and nearly impossible in the library because of FB and MySpace.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

LOL, I did go to college back then. You forgot we didn't have email and had to hide in closets if we wanted to have a private conversation, because the phones were still attached to the wall.

I do agree that FB is a great tool to get back in touch with people that you don't really have time for daily interactions with, but when I took classes over the last couple of years, it would drive me bonkers when students were texting while professors were lecturing (because I had to keep hearing all the buzzing) and couldn't believe when students took calls during class. It was often difficult to get a computer in the lab and nearly impossible in the library because of FB and MySpace.

Ah, phones attached to the walls. Raise your hand if they had rotary dials.

I agree that those are problems, but they're not communication or time-management problems. They're courtesy, respect and boundary problems.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Ah, phones attached to the walls. Raise your hand if they had rotary dials.

I agree that those are problems, but they're not communication or time-management problems. They're courtesy, respect and boundary problems.

Man, text messaging would have taken forever with a rotary phone...

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Man, text messaging would have taken forever with a rotary phone...

*rimshot*

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Man, text messaging would have taken forever with a rotary phone...

A friend of mine in high school's parents still had a rotary phone in 1988. By choice. With a rotary, there was no call waiting. I was never good at dialing rotary phones. It usually took at least two or three tries.

Back then, you also dialed "0" to reach an operator who could:

• Help you make international, collect, "person to person" and multiple-party calls
• Interrupt phone calls for an emergency (before/without call waiting, if the phone number was in use, you got a busy signal).
• Provide phone numbers
• Call the police/fire/ambulance, etc. As a little kid, I was taught "0" and not 911.
• Tell you the time. We did this when power went out and you needed to know the time, during the power outage, and when it came back (to reset your clocks). No, we never wore watches, lol.
• Help you with phone service problems.

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Trust me, those of us who went to college without facebook, Twither, instant messaging and *gasp* even cell phones had plenty of other ways to mismanage our time.

Yep! Only you and your friends weren't interrupted every 2 minutes with a text/phone call/email. It was kind of freeing. You were more "in the moment".

Funny story about phones and the ancient times (1989). My first semester, my room mate and I decided to get the phone plan where you pay for each call, including local calls. We thought, who are we going to call locally? Calling our families were "toll calls" (different part of the state) and long distance (out of state). We didn't think that we'd be calling other people on campus, ordering food, etc. Every local call cost like 3 cents a minute, which added up (we knew we'd have to pay to call our parents or friends at other schools).

My second semester, my new roommate already had "local service", and my dad gave me a calling card to call home with, so that was golden.

Sigh. I still remember when payphones were 10 cents. They changed that in 1982.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Trust me, those of us who went to college without facebook, Twither, instant messaging and *gasp* even cell phones had plenty of other ways to mismanage our time.

Exactly.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Trust me, those of us who went to college without facebook, Twither, instant messaging and *gasp* even cell phones had plenty of other ways to mismanage our time.

But could today's students figure out how to goof off without FB/texting?

I saw this story somewhere else, and someone pointed out that this might not be an overall good idea because people have also come to rely on social media for actual productive/important reasons, like keeping in touch with family who are overseas or sick.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

But could today's students figure out how to goof off without FB/texting?

I saw this story somewhere else, and someone pointed out that this might not be an overall good idea because people have also come to rely on social media for actual productive/important reasons, like keeping in touch with family who are overseas or sick.

It's a WEEK. If there's an emergency, I'm sure people can be found.

[AlphaFrog]

Ok, I'm totally taking this train in another direction, but whatever...

When someone is so careless sending you text messages that you can barely make out what they are trying to communicate, do you feel obligated to read/respond to them? I'm not talking about text-speak like "b back 4 dinner @6 after sk8ing" (and even that drives me crazy, but I understand it) - I'm talking about people who can't bother with the 5 seconds it takes to proof a text and make sure it's actually comprehensible.

My mom keeps doing it, and it drives me batshit crazy. She blames it on her learning disability, but somehow her LD didn't stop her from getting two college degrees, including a Master's.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

When someone is so careless sending you text messages that you can barely make out what they are trying to communicate, do you feel obligated to read/respond to them? . . . .

My mom keeps doing it, and it drives me batshit crazy.

If it was someone like my mom, they'd get a "huh?" back. Otherwise, they'd be ignored.

[Tulip86]

There's no way I could go a week without social media as a student... since Social Media Marketing is a course on my curriculum this semester