Almost everyone understands the anxiety of being without your phone. Whether you’ve dropped it in a toilet, shattered the screen, or just forgotten it at home, the idea of being out of touch for any significant amount of time can cause genuine stress. But why? Have people become addicted to their phones?
A few years ago, Bentley University Prof. Jeff Stern asked himself that question, and in his search for an answer, the “Digital Fast” was born.
“It started to feel like I had a bad relationship with my device,” said Stern. He said the nature of his relationship with smart phones and social media changed when he had children and began spending more time at home. “I started to wonder if I was addicted … and I thought, ‘Would it be healthy to do what people do when they have a drinking problem or an over-eating problem or any kind of addiction? What if you just went cold turkey?’”
In May, Stern gave a presentation at Creative Mornings PKX, discussing the idea of going cold turkey from tech. Now, Stern and a group of associates are issuing a challenge to their community in the Seacoast, inviting their friends and neighbors to take part in next weekend’s inaugural “Seacoast Digital Fast.”
As Stern discussed in his segment with Creative Mornings, he originally tested out the digital fast with a group of students in the media and culture program at Bentley. In the fall of 2014, Stern led a class called “Alone Together: The Impact of Technology and Social Media on our Lives.” As part of the class, Stern mandated that he and his students take a 48-hour hiatus from technology and digital devices.
Together with co-organizers Duncan Craig and Daniel Marino of Raka Creative, Noelle Grattan of Five Line Creative, and Mike Teixeira of Calypso Communications, Stern has committed to coordinating an effort for a similar device-free weekend in the Seacoast.
Participants in the Digital Fast are asked to turn off their phones and other devices at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 5. For the next 48 hours, the goal is to be free from screens and digital devices (cell phones, computers, television, etc.). At 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 7, everyone is free to plug back in — or stay unplugged longer.
“Maybe you’ll find that you want to stretch it out,” said Stern.
While the Seacoast Digital Fast is the first organized fast Stern has worked on since his class in 2014, it’s something he occasionally tries to do with his family. Stern went on a digital fast about six weeks ago, along with his wife and two sons.
“We went on a camping weekend,” Stern said, “and I think that’s the best way to do it. We don’t have reception anyway, you know?”
Stern said that while going tech-free for the weekend presented some difficulties — namely having to navigate with maps rather than a GPS and being without his usual Spotify playlists for music — the camping trip was a great way for his family to embrace the weekend without technology.
“It was really nice,” Stern said.
Jeff Stern photo by Wendy Freeman
Fellow fast organizer Mike Teixeira said he was intrigued by Stern’s talk at Creative Mornings and jumped at the chance to get involved.
“I’ve been trying in my own life to put (digital devices) down for days here and hours there, but I’ve never done it for such a long time,” Teixeira said.
One of the great things about the digital fast, he said, is that participants can spend their time offline in whatever way they choose.
“Everyone can do it in their own way,” Teixeira said. “I’m just going to shut off the devices and go with the flow for the weekend.”
Stern’s biggest piece of advice for anyone considering taking part in the digital fast is to enjoy the things that come along with being disconnected for a while, and think of it as a vacation rather then a forced hiatus.
“The way that’s going to be the hardest to do is to just sit around all of your devices and think about how you can’t use them,” Stern said. “That’s kind of a sad way to spend a weekend. Better to think about what you get to do, rather than all the things you can’t do.”
One thing to do is attend the Seacoast Digital Fast kickoff party at 3S Artspace’s Block Six restaurant in Portsmouth. The happy-hour-style gathering takes place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, when participants will count down to the moment of “unplugging” and turn off their phones together. Guests are encouraged to enjoy their last couple of hours of digital media before the fast, discuss excitement or nervousness about the weekend, and make tech-free plans for the following days with fellow fasters.
The group will reconvene at Portsmouth Book & Bar on Sunday for the final hour and a half of the fast. Closing festivities are scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m., and at 6:30 participants who have made it through the weekend will be invited to reenter the digital realm, or choose to wait until later.
poster by Noelle Grattan
Stern emphasized that the fast is not about being against technology.
“I think sometimes what I’m asking people to do gets misconstrued as being anti-technology or anti-device, and I’d like to be clear that that’s not where I’m coming from,” Stern said. “I teach media production, and I use my device, maybe not as often as everyone, but I certainly use it every day. (The digital fast is) not necessarily about weaning yourself off of it.”
Rather, Stern said, the fast can serve as a way to better understand and evaluate your own relationship with technology and the digital world.
“What I’ve gotten out of the digital fast, and what a lot of people I’ve talked to have gotten out of it, is that in many cases it clarifies what your relationship (to digital devices) is.”
To learn more about the Seacoast Digital Fast or sign up, visit seacoastdigitalfast.com.