Walden, this is not

at 12:06 am on February 6, 2009 under Feb: Media Fast | Be the First to Comment

My media fast is crawling to a media slow. And I’m looking for some help to revise my rules.

I decided this fast would be important because I was indulging in too much media. In fact six specific vices were causing more distraction than benefit in the ways I was using them:

  • Too much googling
  • Too much youtubing
  • Too much blog reading via Google reader
  • Too much twitter reading
  • Too much facebook trolling
  • Too much listening to iTunes, pandora, and last.fm’ing

Seeing as a computer and the web is central to my worklife, I determined an electronic media diet was in order to temper the impacts of media habits. I also cavalierly suggested that perhaps I would learn something from rediscovering the “static” life, or “pre-web” life, and find out what role electronic media really plays in mine.

And while in the first couple days I definitely was able to read and work with more focus, I began to cheat:

  • To the point where today, when my co-worker forwarded me this MUST READ article about a woman who accidentally gave birth on the metro, I went ahead and clicked it. (Hey, it was sent by someone at work, right?).
  • Although I expressly banned web-based tools, I used google maps on my iPhone yesterday to find a thrift store to buy a prop for a work project.
  • I’ve been sort of watching The Office, ‘24′ and Gilmore Girls with my SO (we’ve both been sick this week, so it’s what’s on, okay?).
  • I tap my email refresh button like a new amputee hits the button for morphine.

And increasingly I’ve begun to get the feeling that my caveat-filled list of rules is a little unfair. I’m replacing electronic media indulgences with other media indulgences that distract just as much.

This guy was pretty good at media fasting

This guy was pretty good at media fasting

And, interestingly, I’m getting a ton of conflicting interpretations of what a media fast should encompass. To some, podcasts and radio (NPR-only) are okay since those are often more signal than noise when it comes to providing useful information inputs. Some say going to see films in the theater should be restricted since it is an electronic medium – though others say the social aspect of going to the cinema is more important than the movie itself. To others, even magazines and newspapers should be off limits, since these might taint some of the meditative objectives of a true fast. And blogging my media fast causes the most cognitive dissonance.

All of this goes to the question of what the point of a media fast.

Anyone have suggestions on how to make a more effective media fast? Obviously, I have to depend on the input of people who are not fasting on media – since there is no social network of tip-sharing electronics hermits out there on the web. So, thoughts? What should I really be avoiding and why? And what should I be using to replace media? What is bad media? And what is good media?

[del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [MySpace] [Reddit] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Email] More »

Add A Comment

home top