Mass Media Deprivation: What is Life Without Media?

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Mass Media Deprivation
Depriving myself of mass media was difficult. Mostly because my entire world revolves around technology. It was not until I decided to stop checking my emails, browse through Instagram posts, and even avoid watching TV when I realized how addicted I am to the media. I now realize that I built my life around a digital space whereby every day when I woke up I had to check an email or a message from a conversation that was going on the previous night before or be the first to sight funny memes and posts or latest news to share with my friends. The five days without the media were harsh because I felt disconnected from the world. Although I was able to have productive and interactive conversations with the people around me, It felt as if the physical world had very little to offer in terms of entertainment. All the interesting things tend to happen online. To some degree, the lack of media forced me to focus on other activities to distract myself. I decided to take walks, help out with chores, and play card games as well as other physical games to keep me distracted. These activities were interesting because they felt more real and engaging, and to some degree, it felt like time well spent. Aside from including some activities to fit into my daily routine, one important factor that I noticed during the five days was the fact that I was able to get enough sleep. Normally, I tend to stay up late browsing through social media and following up news feed. As a result, I mostly sleep at around 1.00 AM. However, during these five days, I went to bed early at around 9.00 PM. This allowed me to get more sleep, which felt therapeutic.
The lack of media also affected me emotionally, but in a positive way. For the five days that I desisted from posting my activities online, I felt like I did not need the comments and likes from other people to act as a social reinforcement. Whenever I post a photo or comment on my Instagram or Twitter page, I expected other people to like or even comment on the post. Sometimes, the need for attention draws me to get angry with my friends when they fail to like my posts even when they have no justifiable reason to do so, and in turn, I refrain from liking or commenting on their posts. It is only until I stayed without posting when I realized that all that was childish. It felt as if I was eager to feed my ego by posting and monitoring the number of likes and comments. Nonetheless, the lack of media during the five days led me to realize how useful the social reinforcement brought about by the media is. Reason being, the positive comments that people posted on my timeline and posts were encouraging and helped me to get through the worst of days. Luckily, I did not encounter any difficult moments through the course of the five-day media deprivation, which I assume, might have forced me to go online to try and get some consolation or encouragement.
My social world was also affected by the deprivation. Most of my conversations are carried out online. Both my parents have smartphones, which they use to communicate with me. However, I found it very difficult for us to have the same online conversation face to face. When chatting online, I c...