This became reality for 26 students at the University of Central Florida. Last year their English professor, Mary Ann Murdoch, challenged her students to unplug and live a technology-free life for five days.

Only two of 26 students in Murdoch’s class were able to relinquish cell phones, iPods, portable CD players, text messaging, e-mail, computers, TVs, DVDs, and video games.

I crafted a similar technology-free experiment for myself. No texting. No web surfing. No social networks. No iPods, CD’s, TV, video games or personal e-mails. Just my phone for basic calls and my laptop for emergency school-related email and Microsoft Office programs. For one week.

Tech Diaries

Sunday Night 11:45pm –

The experiment was set to start at midnight. Before I unplugged from my comforting world of chargers and wires, I posted a disclaimer on all my social media profiles stating: Doing a social experiment for a class which involves me giving up most technology for a week.  If you wanna talk to me, call me or stop by my place! Starts tonight at midnight! Bets on if I can do it?

Technology Diet

My experiment warranted initial reactions of “Maybe I will send you a hand written letter bahahah”, “Good luck with that!” and “Well, guess I will talk to you in a week. L8r!” It seemed most of my friends thought my experiment was pointless.

“When I heard you were going a week without technology, I couldn’t believe it,” said Johns Hopkins University senior Kayla Culver. “I thought I could never do that.”

Monday

Slept in an extra two hours today. Wandered around my room not knowing what exactly I should be doing. Went to class and came back for another nap. Sooooo bored. Went to bed early. Perhaps I could get used to this !

“It is so funny that is your definition of boredom,” said Dian Schaffhauser, a business and technology writer for Campus Technology. “You had all this extra time to do stuff but you didn’t see value in that. Generation Y views technology as a necessity rather than an accessory; the baseline for what we need to get along has changed.”

Tuesday

Went into the bookstore to get a work study application for the spring semester. Asked the woman behind the counter for an application and she responded with “You can access our application online.” I politely asked if they had any in-store copies, she stared at me before bringing the supervisor over to solve this problem.

I repeated my question and the supervisor repeated I could access the information on line. I started to explain my experiment to them, but exasperated, I conceded defeat and walked out empty handed.

Wednesday

Had an interesting experience at the NYU library today. I figured since I can’t use the internet to look up information, the library will help me out. Dewey Decimal System, here I come! Unfortunately, I needed technology there more than I imagined.

In order to look up any books, I had to use the internet access tied to the NYU network database: Bobcat. I don’t know why I expected to use a card catalog (haven’t heard that world in a while).

Realizing I would need some assistance looking up information, I wandered over to a librarian and asked her if she could help me find a book. She looked at me and said, “You know, you can look it up online.”

No, duh. She looked at me like I was stupid. I informed her I couldn’t use the computer as per a class assignment. She huffed and puffed before agreeing to help me find the book.

Thursday

Hi, my name is Kelly and I have a problem. I’m addicted to technology. Having headaches and feeling nauseous today. Feel pretty heavy. I think I’m due for some Technology Rehab.

Friday

No one called to tell me that my Ultimate Frisbee scrimmage at Columbia University was cancelled. Rode all the way up there to meet a dark stadium and an empty field. Wasted $4.50 and two hours!

Saturday

Stepped outside today and slid my iPod headphones in my ears. Walked four blocks before realizing I ever put them in. That’s muscle memory for you! Reading and napping all day. Bo-ring!

Sunday

By far the easiest day of the whole experiment. Just counting the hours. Excited to feast on all the technology meals I missed this week!

First post experiment food? Facebook.

Importance of Technology to a Generation

Sure I shed a few electronic pounds on my technology diet. I read two decent books, reconnected with an old acquaintance and became a self-declared solitaire champion. But truthfully, I wasted more time without technology than I ever did with it. Without my iPod buds in my ears, I felt lost. Without my thumbs stomping across the letters on my cell phone, I felt lost. And without seeing the Lady Gaga video the second it premiered on MTV, I felt lost. So instead of trying to find a path out of this “lost-ness”, I slept it away.

While Twitter captured some eccentric users like Simon, experts say that Twitter isn’t intended for Generation Y. “I think Twitter is targeting people over 25 years old,” said Daniel Brusilovsky, CEO of Teens in Tech Networks and a writer at TechCrunch.

Twitter functions as a site more effective for marketing a product and conducting business according to Brusilovsky. With some of the Top 100 Twitter users being Whole Foods, JetBlue and Dell Outlet (who garnered over 2 million in sales last year on Twitter alone), Twitter is more effective for industry news and professional purposes rather than a social network.

In June 2009, the Participatory Marketing Network (PMN) polled 200 Gen Y-ers about their social media habits. The study showed that while 99 percent of 18-24-year-olds have social network profiles, only 22 percent of them used Twitter.

Some Gen-Yers started an account to try Twitter before abandoning it shortly thereafter. NYU Junior Ariel Altschuler, 20, opened an account in April 2009, with his first ‘tweet’ reading, “I give in. Against my better judgment, I’m trying twitter.” Every few days, he posted his thoughts, upcoming events and even shared funny links. But a month later, he stopped. “I just stopped updating it. No reason – I just didn’t think about it anymore, unless one of my friends mentioned it.”

Twitter has yet to capture the attention garnered by Facebook. With an impressive 409 friends on Facebook, Altschuler seems like a popular guy. But compare that to his 22 followers on Twitter. And with only 22 people occasionally reading your ‘tweets,’ there is no need to invest as much time in upkeep.

While Gen Y worries that their friends won’t read their tweets, they also worry about strangers who might. “Facebook is a closed network,” Brusilovsky said. “It’s a network of people and friends that you trust to be connected to, to share information like your email address, AIM screen name, and phone number. You know who’s getting your status messages, because you either approved or added each person to your network.”

Brusilovsky, author of the TechCrunch.com article, “Why Teens Don’t Twitter”, believes that security issues have a lot to do with Gen Y’s hesitancy toward Twitter. “Twitter is the exact opposite. Anyone can follow your status updates. It’s a completely open network that makes teenagers feel unsafe about posting their content there. Who knows who will read it?”

For other young people who used Facebook since the beginning, there simply isn’t a need for Twitter. “I post things on Facebook for my friends to see,” said 20-year-old Alexandra Marchese, a junior at NYU. “Considering none of my friends are on Twitter, there is no guarantee anyone I know, or even care about, will read what I’m writing.”

Marchese decided against activating a Twitter account. “If Twitter came first, it might be a different story,” she said. “I have everything I need on Facebook. And for now, that’s not going to change.”