Social Media Diary

My day starts with the daily check through all of my social media apps on my phone. It starts with Twitter—seeing what I missed after I went to bed and in the morning. Then I move to Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and if I really have a lot of time, I’ll check Yik Yak or Buzzfeed. My morning social media check doesn’t really give me much information because, let’s be real, nothing happens between the hours of 11PM and 8AM. However, I do follow news/blog accounts that post articles in the morning hours that I will occasionally read over my cereal and coffee (again, time permitting). I’ll send a couple Snapchats over breakfast with captions along the lines of “ugh so tired”, “wah”, and “don’t want to go to class” and then I’m out the door.

Swarm app—my new useless, yet entertaining app that is useful for absolutely nothing.

When I arrive in class, I’ll check in using this new app my friend and I just downloaded (Swarm—an extention of Foursquare) and scroll through my Twitter feed one last time before class starts. After class, I have some time off where I make a dent in my homework load. I switch to my laptop, turn on my music on Spotify, and go into an in depth browse on Facebook. I’ll send a few Snapchats and take a Buzzfeed quiz because procrastination and then I’ll start my homework.

Some in-depth Facebook checking before working on homework. As you can see Buzzfeed pops up on my newsfeed and I can’t turn down taking a quiz

Spotify usage persists for the majority of the day because I’m always listening to music.

The rest of my day continues and I use mostly my phone in the following way: send Snapchats. Check Twitter and Facebook periodically between classes. Repeat. Sometimes I’ll put out a tweet depending on how exciting my day is or if something in my life happens.

Before I go to bed at night I put away my laptop and get back on my phone to check all of my social media again until I fall asleep.

After observing my habits throughout the day, what I noticed was that at morning and night I spend the most time checking my social media in the morning and the evening. During the day, I find myself casually checking Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat, but I am not in depth looking or clicking on links. It’s mindless and almost an automatic way to spend my minutes when I am too early for something. However, in the morning and night I spend time carefully reading and actively engaging on social media.

If a television show I watch live is on (The Bachelor, award shows, ect.) I will send out some live tweets with the supported hashtag and sometimes I have a more exciting life and have pictures to post on Facebook. I would say that my activity during the weekends is much more involved as well. There is more activity from my social networks during the weekend and I like knowing what others are up to.

Using my phone and my laptop depends on if I’m doing homework (and procrastinating) or if I’m just laying in bed or around my apartment. I like to read articles more on the laptop because it is just easier to navigate and the interface is bigger. I also like to use Facebook more on the computer because the pictures are bigger and it is easier to “stalk” people when necessary.

If I was being targeted for social media by a brand, I think it would be best to do so in the morning, in the evening, or during my television shows that I watch live. I am more interactive and susceptible to click on links because I have the time.