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I was doing my usual routine of scrolling through Instagram while eating my lunch when I saw a truly disturbing image: The now-10-year-old boy I used to babysit had an Instagram. His profile was private, of course, and while it made me cringe (oh, the photos I'm so thankful aren't on social media), it also drummed up some old memories.
I didn’t have a cell phone until the first year of high school. I started off with a BlackBerry that had the data turned off, and eventually moved on to a Nokia brick with sides that lit up, and then a Motorola Razr. With unlimited text messaging, it became my go-to for flirting with boys or “bitching out” my friends. Any photos I took are long, long forgotten. Simpler times.
Then I started to wonder: What if I went back to a flip phone? Could I actually do it, or would my work suffer? I work in social media, and I use my iPhone for everything, both professionally and personally. I snap, tweet, post on Instagram, and most importantly, email all damn day. What would happen when I was sent an urgent email? Or if there was something that I just had to snap or post?
After having no luck finding an old phone from my coworkers, I grabbed a pink Motorola Razr from eBay. My plan: For seven days, I’d go back to using a Razr. No smartphone allowed. I could use my computer for social media at work, but for any situation in which I’d normally use my phone, I’d now be using this early 2000s relic.
I sent an email to my immediate team and let them know about this experiment… And I added that if they needed to reach me urgently, they’d need to text me. Then I got started.
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