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Course: Social media literacy > Unit 2
Lesson 1: Introduction to the attention economy unitReflection activity: Your own social media experiences
What does social media mean to you?
Reflection activity
Reread the quotes from Anuja and Sam:
“I constantly refreshed my likes as they came in, spent hours reading and replying to comments and taking in other people's posts. I became obsessed with living what social media promotes as a worthwhile and perfect life.”
–Anuja, Age 20, Fresno
“My morning time ritual became an afternoon ritual to a night ritual, to an all day ritual where I would habitually check my phone every hour, eagerly waiting for the next notification to come in.”
–Sam, Age 18, New York City
🤔 CONSIDER AND DISCUSS:
Think about your own experience on social media.
- Do Anuja and Sam’s experiences of addiction and distortion compare to yours?
- How are they similar?
- How are they different?
Let’s go behind these experiences to look at how social media companies operate.
Want to join the conversation?
I don't really compare to both for the reason that I don't usually check my social media very much. They are similar in ways that they both continuously check their phone for a notification looking for some way of validation. They are different because Anuja looks for validation on her posts and how she looks, while Sam looks for validation on herself and seeing who is willing to text her.(6 votes)
My experience is very similar to theirs but I've come a long from being a phone addict. In the beginning I was obsessed with Instagram and tiktok just like many of my Gen z counter parts but eventually I started going on a cleanse from the media. The first thing I did was reduce my time every week for example: I spent 8-12 hours a day in my phone but on week one I reduced it by 1 hour and found an activity to do for 1 hour that week(painting) and the next week I reduced it 2 hours and so on and so on until my daily time spent was 3 hours a day.(6 votes)- Who remembers when youtube shorts became a thing? At first, it was easy to avoid the shorts, it's not as easy nowadays. There's content I love wathcing. For instance, i'll get sucked into basketbal videos for hours. The best way to combat a habit, I found this out through many years of failure, is by making the habit less easy to participate in.
I'll occasionally delete YouTube. However, YouTube is one app
amongst many that offers similar video content. The issue isn't really solved if I have another social media app available that offers the same short-duration type content.(5 votes) 
1. no
2. they both had the same issues
3. they are different in ways of the time they would spend time on phones(4 votes)- 1.no
2.they constantly check their phone for notifications
3.one spends hours on social media and the other waits for a notification(4 votes) 
This for sure reflects on me, but I don’t think in such a strong way. I have social media, but I try to separate myself from what I am on there. I don’t live for the likes, or the shares. But in the same sense, it can for sure take control sometimes! Comments have a big affect on me, because I care a lot about what other people think of me, and what they have to say. Anyway, that’s my thoughts. Have a good day <333(4 votes)- im in the metaverse(3 votes)
i stay away from social media, i'm more of a book person anyway.(2 votes)
I don't really compare to both for the reason that I don't usually check my social media very much. They are similar in ways that they both continuously check their ph(2 votes)- 1. Not really
2. I am always on my Instagram going through posts
3. I don't really care for the amount of likes I get on my posts(2 votes)