Needless to say, I am always on the internet whether I am on my computer or on my phone. I have to admit that as soon as I wake up, I turn my alarm off or snooze it and then I immediately check my Facebook or Instagram. I have a twitter but I don’t use it as much as I used to. Unfortunately I do not surf the web for news as much as I should. I usually receive news word of mouth or I see someone post it in my newsfeed with a link and then I read the article.
Although I use Facebook often, I deleted the app so I do not receive notifications to my phone so I usually go on the web when I am on Facebook. I can honestly say that I waste too much time on Facebook scrolling my life away. Facebook is simply a way to communicate with my family and friends back home in LA without having to actually talk to them on the phone. I have come to the realization that both social medias and text messaging, in my opinion are just ways to avoid having verbal conversations. For me, it is easier to send a “hope all is well” text or post on someones wall instead of calling them. Although it is convenient to use these tools of communication I think it does contribute to my fear of public speaking. Oppose to others who find it easier to express themselves by just speaking, I spend a lot of time expressing myself through writing. As a young girl I spent a lot of time writing things down and through that I found a love for creative writing. I am the eldest of three boy, so I never had that older sibling to confide in or a sister to have girl talk so with that I said, whenever something happened instead of talking about it I would write a short story.
Convergent Media | Divergent Voices 
I plead guilty to waking up and going right to my Facebook and Instagram as well. I find it is an easier way to deal with getting out of bed in the freezing weather.
I wouldn’t worry about your use of social media because it sounds like its just what you need. It better to keep in some contact with friends and family where as before social networking those relationships might have just fallen away.
I have to admit as soon as I get up I check my instagram and Facebook. Honestly I don’t even know why I do it, it’s just a habit.
Social media is definitely a way to avoid conversation, but I rather have a conversation on the phone then text message. If I just want to say hello to someone I will send them a text, but if I want to have a long conversation with someone I won’t do it over text, it’s just not the same.
I will admit that I do wake up and check social media sometimes. I have gotten better about it. I used to use it as an excuse to stay in bed a few extra minutes, but I began to realize that the extra 5 minutes I spend check social media could be used to have an extra cup of coffee before going to class or work, actually having time for breakfast or even sleeping for a few extra minutes.
I still sometimes check social media first thing in the morning, but most of the time I remind myself that I will have time later to check my newsfeed. And after awhile it just becomes a habit of not checking your phone or computer right after you hit snooze.
I to, am guilty of waking up and immediately opening up my laptop as soon as I realize I can’t/won’t go back to sleep. Although I never check social media right away, I do feel that same pull to check the news, see if congress did anything crazy today etc. It’s become a bad habit that I realized when we lost power during Sandy last year, not being able to know what was going on unless I had a battery powered radio and that felt like chiseling your term paper into slate. I had internet withdrawal and I even stayed at school an extra 2-3 hours after my classes had ended so I could browse the internet instead of going home to the dark, and that was only two weeks…..