McCandless Project

Jooho Oh

The experiment I chose to do was leaving my phone at home for a day. I turned it off and put it in a drawer, so I wouldn’t text my friends or family. This experiment would be good because I’m always on my phone. When I did this, the friends that I text and call on a daily basis were confused and curious why I didn’t respond back to them. It was hard because my mom called me and there were times I needed to call her during the day. My moms reaction was usual and she assumed that I was ignoring her calls. When I didn’t respond to my friends through text or on social media, they were surprised and asked me the next day if I didn’t have my phone with me before. During this experiment, I felt like the day went by slow because I wasn’t entertained and didn’t have a lot to do. I was really bored at times and was very tempted to check social media. It was hard to not talk to my friends or go on Instagram, Twitter, etc. because I’m usually always on my phone whether I’m texting or simply listening to music. Instead of going on my phone, I spent the day trying to be more productive and caught up with other activities. Eventually, it felt good that I actually got stuff done instead of procrastinating and being on my phone and I was relieved that I could get something out of the experiment. I spent more time talking to my parents instead of being on my phone. I was not surprised at all by my friends’ reactions or my families’. I knew they’d be curious why I wasn’t on social media or texting because they know I’m addicted to my phone. I knew I was going to be tempted to go on my phone but I held back and so my reaction didn’t surprise me. I don’t think I’m completely free from being conformed by society because social media and technology is so common, but the experiment helped me be more productive so I think it was very helpful in many ways. It was a good way of realizing how much technology has an impact on our lives.