An Amazing College Experience Starts with You!

The Naked Roommate’s First Year Survival Workbook is your personal roadmap to creating and living your own very bes

From Naked Exercise #8
Technology: The Fifth Wall

If you’re texting while on the phone while chatting via your webcam while reading this tip, you might be stuck behind the fifth wall of technology (and be very talented!).

The Internet, cell phones, IM, video games, and electronic devices you plug in or charge create what is known as the Fifth Wall of Technology. Physically you might be on campus, but mentally and emotionally you’re somewhere else. This is an important one (not to diminish the importance of all the other exercises)! College can be an amazing experience, but it can also be socially uncomfortable at times. Remember the 10 percent BS? When it arrives, it’s all too easy to run and hide in your comfort zone by using technology.

I’m talking about things like calling home, texting old friends, hanging out on Facebook, surfing the Internet, and playing video games online with random people OTHER than people on campus.

Check all that apply and estimate (honestly) how much time on average you spend a day doing these things (your best guess).

Technology Hours per Day

_____Talking on your cell phone with friends from home ____________

_____Texting friends from home ____________

_____Instant Messaging friends from home ____________

_____Hanging out in chat rooms or playing games ____________

_____Surfing the Web ____________

_____Downloading music ____________

_____Watching videos online, or on your iPod or phone ____________

_____Watching TV ____________

_____Hanging out on Facebook ____________

_____Hanging out on MySpace ____________

_____Listening to music on your iPod ____________

_____Playing video games ____________

Daily total: ____________

Multiply this number by seven and you get the total for the week. (Whoa! That’s a big number.) Multiply it by 30 and get your total for the month. Multiply it by 365 and…oh my that’s insane! Can you believe you’ve spent that much time not talking to people face to face?

Here’s the Math

Let’s just say hypothetically you spend 3 hours talking on the phone a day, 1 hour texting a day, 1 hour gaming a day, 1 hour of TV, and 1 hour of Facebook, that equals 7 hours a day, 28 hours a week, 1,456 hours a year. That’s over 60 days stuck behind the fifth wall of technology. And you wonder why some people don’t feel connected to life on campus…(or get dates).

The Big Question

Is the majority of your time spent online connecting with old friends from home rather than helping you make new friends on campus? YES NO

If yes, how do you think spending so much time communicating with people you already know (and who are no longer part of your daily life) impacts meeting new people on campus (yes, a loaded question)?

_________________________________

What steps can you take to use technology to communicate LESS with people from home and MORE with people on campus?

_________________________________

If friends, family, or significant others at home insist on pulling you back behind the fifth wall of technology, what can you say or do to set limits?

__________________________________

Social Networking No-Nos

Just in case you didn’t know, you can get expelled, lose a job, or miss out on a leadership position based on your social networking resume. Everything you say, write, and post online can be accessed by the world. It’s forever. Even if you set restrictions on who can read your posts, there are ways they can still get out—fake friends, jealous exes, or strangers can share your information with the world (or TMZ).

Make sure you answer NO to all the social media no-nos.

There are pictures of me consuming alcohol while underage online. YES / NO

People can gain access to my cell phone and address through Facebook. YES / NO

There are pictures of me doing something illegal online. YES / NO

There are pictures of me doing something that a professor, employer, or someone I respect might consider to be in poor taste. YES / NO

People have posted incriminating info on my wall. YES / NO

I accept friend requests from anyone who requests me. YES / NO

I don’t have privacy settings in place. YES / NO

I post blog entries that share my personal information. YES / NO

I’ve posted hateful messages. YES / NO

I have gotten expelled for posting threatening messages. YES / NO

I change my password once a month. YES / NO

What is the worst story you’ve ever heard about social networking gone bad?

_____________________

List ten Internet safety concerns most students don’t think about when texting, Facebooking, and using social networks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

True or False
And now some VERY difficult true or false questions about how you use technology to finish this Naked Exercise:

1. Texting in class is considered polite and respectful.

True or False

2. Taking and texting naked pictures of yourself is a GREAT idea.

True or False

3. It’s a good idea to accept anyone’s Facebook friendship request.

True or False

4. Facebook privacy settings will keep all of your information private from future scandal.

True or False

5. Posting your cell phone number will allow everyone who wants to harass you an opportunity to call and text you.

True or False

6. Everything you write, post, email, and say on social networking sites is available for the world to intercept.

True or False