Streaming, social media, searches. Today’s young adults—more than ever—are accused of being addicted to their phones, but it isn’t just phones. Modern media is so accessible and so fast-paced that it’s hard to let yourself be bored, even for one second. Why would you? But what are we consuming? According to my iPhone’s screentime analytics, I spend, on average, an hour on TikTok a day, but I couldn’t name three videos I’ve seen on the app in the last twenty-four hours. I tracked my media usage, across all devices and platforms, for a few days, and I still can’t believe how much of my time I spend looking at nothing.
Let’s Track It
I had not anticipated how difficult it would be to trach my media usage. After all, it is an almost constant engagement for me. Over the course of September 30th, 2025 and October 1, 2025, I logged (or attempted to log) every time I engaged with a form of digital media—including social media, entertainment, search engines, etc. For the purposes of this project, I did not count time spent on my phone or computer for academic purposes, but I did not happen to engage with any sort of educational media outside of my school’s online systems in these two days. Initially, I listed my media usage haphazardly in a word document as instances occurred, including the date, time, and a general summary of what I was looking at. I later exported this information onto a spreadsheet to analyze it deeper.
I also looked at my iPhone screentime analytics to get a fuller idea of how much time I spend on my phone and what exactly I do with that time.
My Findings!
I knew that I engaged with a lot of media throughout my daily life, but this project really showed me how constantmy media usage is. Prior to this, I had never thought twice about streaming Spotify playlists while I drive or shower. I don’t even fall asleep in silence—I turn on a video that I don’t even listen to, let alone watch! I was surprised at how much I had to log Spotify as a platform I was engaging with because music has become such a constant in my life that I don’t register it as something I engage with.
After a discussion with my classmates on October 2nd, I found that they had some of the same findings: they were/are constantly filling their lives with entertainment and “background noise”. Out of eighteen forms of content I analyzed, only five of those were examples of media I actively sought out! Algorithms and AI are making it easier and easier to stumble upon content you want.
We often think about algorithms in terms of social media, and this was demonstrated in my experiment: my TikTok “For You Page” repeatedly showed me videos about Dancing with the Stars, which I did watch on September 30th. I didn’t have to seek out content that interested me, that I wanted to engage with. I also noticed over the course of this experiment that I no longer have to seek out music to listen to; Spotify recommends songs, artists, and even generates playlists crafted to my tastes.
Over the course of this experiment, I found myself mostly listening to an auto-generated playlist called “On Repeat”, of the songs I play most frequently. Spotify creates and recommends playlists based on my favorite artists, genres, or even a specific mood, such as a playlist called “Upbeat Mix”.
So. . . Now What?
I have not been fully bored perhaps since I got a smartphone.
I knew before I began this experiment that I was not going to like having to face how much time I spend on my phone day-to-day. Unfortunately, this project’s analysis led me to a much worse conclusion: I’m never not on my phone. Rather, I am almost always engaged with some sort of media. As I type this I am listening to music; I did not fall asleep in silence last night; I often cannot sit through a movie (or even one episode of television) without checking my social media. I have not been fully bored perhaps since I got a smartphone, and I’m sure many people my age would agree.
This experiment has brought to my attention a lot of habits I never used to think twice about, but I am now rethinking a lot of this. As I become more conscious of my media usage, it is becoming apparent that I have spent a lot of time running from a silence in which to hear myself think. Perhaps being bored is well, boring, but I think we are losing a lot to this lack of time to hear our own thoughts. I have frequently complained about a lack of creative inspiration, but how can I get that when I will not listen to myself.
Of course, breaking this addiction is a bit more than a matter of deciding to get off my phone. In the last few days, I have muted my social media notifications to avoid getting sucked into the “doom scroll”, and I have even done my makeup in silence a few times. With a few little changes, I think I will be able to hear myself a little more clearly and focus on the things I really want to consume—not what an algorithm is feeding me.