Like many around the country, we watched Netflix’s newest hit documentary: “The Social Dilemma.” We wanted to replicate a challenge a character does; however, we wanted to alter it to suit us. 

In the documentary, a teenager named Benji is dared by his mom to go without his phone for a week. We changed it to deleting social media for a week as this seemed more doable than completely getting rid of our phones. 

So, for one week which we said was Monday to Monday, several editors experienced the world without social media. We defined social media as any app or site in which the main purpose is to interact with our peers. Based on that, we went without Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter. 

Click through to the different articles to read about our experiences and to see what we learned.

Caroline’s Week Without Social Media: Trying (and Failing) to Balance Escapism and Realism

Bridget’s Week Without Social Media: Nothing Better to Do

Paige’s Week Without Social Media: My Mental Health is Deteriorating

Madeline’s Week Without Social Media: A Maddening Break From Social Media