This is an interesting project;

Jake Reilly's 'Amish Project:' 90 Days Without a Cell Phone, Email and Social Media

College Student Drops Social Media, Reconnects with Romance

Could you live without daily electronic conveniences -- Twitter, Facebook, email, texting and more -- for 90 days? Jake P. Reilly, a 24-year-old college student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, did just that.

From October to December, he unplugged from social media, email, texts, and cell phones because he felt that we spend more quality time with gadgets and keyboards than we do with the people we really care about.

During his social experiment, he found that some people he counted among his close friends really weren't that close after all. He also discovered that taking a break from his relationship with social media and really paying attention to the people around him can revive real-life romance.

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With modern technology, texts and Facebook wall posts can serve as an attractive veneer making relationships seem more genuine than they really are. Conversely, social media can interfere with our most intimate real-life relationships. How many of your closest relationships would suffer if people had to invest more effort than sending a text to stay in touch? How much better could your relationship with your significant other be if you could give your partner your full attention whenever you're together? There's one way to find out, if you dare.

Hell, I spent my 20's without internet, cell phones, or even a damned BEEPER.

Have you become so dependant on technology that you wouldn't be able to handle 3 months without it???

I could. When I was in high school, that's around the time when folks had just started getting cell phones. When I was in middle, having a pager was all the rage, though my parents didn't let me get one (and after growing up, they were right )

So yeah I could do 3 months without cell, email and texting. I don't have an FB page anymore and never had Twitter so the social media thing is nothing to me.

I could make it, no problem. I’m not addicted to any of them. I’d probably be a lot more productive.

I couldn’t stop using email at work, but I could limit my email to work-only and that would be a change…

My bf and I regularly unplug and just hang out. At least one night a week we have dinner and just chat, no tv, no phones, no internets, etc.

Before the facebook, I’d talk to friends on the phone regularly. I don’t as often these days, but I’d be just as happy to give folks a call to catch up as post online.

A lot of the missing conveniences would annoy me – looking stuff up online/on my phone (like phone #s, restaurant reviews), GPS on the phone, etc. but I’d get by.

I suppose I might miss a lot of events, though. The internets and facebook are my main tools to find fun stuff to do. If I didn’t have those, I’d have to go back to reading a paper copy of several local papers, I think.

i've done it. .. the challenge was keeping busy with projects....you know about the projects, right?...

I pretty much did that already, one time for 5 months and one time for 3 months. The next working internet I could use was a 2 1/2 hour drive away, for the 5 months I did not have a cellphone either that I could use for making calls.

hello we grew up w/out any of this .. no big

Yeah well..what about the porn? I mean, PORN!!

yep. no big deal if i had to.

Yes. I could.

As for MacDaddy-just go out and make your own porn moments in the real world.

As for finding out who your real friends are and not:

Hell yeah I could.

I already don't have a cell phone and really don't have a use for one.

And I went without internet for a while a couple weeks ago and actually totally surprised myself by not only, not losing my mind but actually liking it.

So I could definitely do it. There would be isolated random times where I'd miss it, but I could do it. Hell, after I got fully used to it I'd probably just never go back after the three months.

MacDaddy said:

Yeah well..what about the porn? I mean, PORN!!

Dude...they still make magazines you know!

I couldn't give up my cellphone, because it's the only phone I have.

I could do the rest of it, though.

If my situation would allow for it and emergencies provided, I would totally want to go disconnected for 3 months, without any phone, computer, TV or radio. That's not to say I could go without (making) music. I don't think I could handle that.

Your threads make the prospect tempting!

How is this an "Amish project"? Did he give up his car and start churning his own butter?

Anyway, no, I couldn't do it. If I couldn't email, I would make no money. So that's out.

And apparently it is now impossible to get a date in the gay community without doing a lot of texting first. It annoys the hell out of me, but that's how it is.

So yeah, if I did this experiment, I'd be penniless and dateless, so it doesn't seem all that appealing to me.

PurpleJedi said:

Have you become so dependant on technology that you wouldn't be able to handle 3 months without it???

No. Would I want to go 3 months without it?

Hell I thought this was a disconnect as in "be alone" for 3 months.

I'd do that in a heartbeat.

This type of disconnect...nope...keeps me sane.

I gotta admit it would be very very hard for me lol

i would do a holiday in an amish B & B, leave all my gadgets at home, go all primitive.

Yes absolutely no problem whatsoever

Tremolina said:

If my situation would allow for it and emergencies provided, I would totally want to go disconnected for 3 months, without any phone, computer, TV or radio. That's not to say I could go without (making) music. I don't think I could handle that.

O h yeah... And a lot of good books too...

But not any newspapers or magazines.

And I would have to be on a tropical island with nobody aroudn, except one very beautiful woman.

(or maybe a couple )

imago said:

Your threads make the prospect tempting!

I probably could not for work reasons, but for personal ones I do consider it. I am definitely an addict.

This is an interesting book about a family who does it for 6 months. But they are allowed to use computers outside of the house (for school/work) but no TV, computer, cell phones--no screens--at home.

If I had to.... yes. I'm not sure i'd want to though.

When I go on holiday (a proper relaxing holiday), I don't use my phone or connect to the internet even if I can. I like to leave it all behind.

3 months is quite a while... but I suppose the longer you leave it, the easier it would get to be without it. And there's no way I could be without internet this year

NDRU said:

I probably could not for work reasons, but for personal ones I do consider it. I am definitely an addict.

This is an interesting book about a family who does it for 6 months. But they are allowed to use computers outside of the house (for school/work) but no TV, computer, cell phones--no screens--at home.

do u know the outcome, did they cope ok?

excited said:

NDRU said:

I probably could not for work reasons, but for personal ones I do consider it. I am definitely an addict.

This is an interesting book about a family who does it for 6 months. But they are allowed to use computers outside of the house (for school/work) but no TV, computer, cell phones--no screens--at home.

do u know the outcome, did they cope ok?

Oh, yeah, definitely.

They eventually went back to using their computers and what-not, but it the book was mostly about how the family became closer, the kids were more focused and did better in school and other activities. The author claims it helped her realize that she had been floating somewhat aimlessly for years, and she made some major life-decisions.

They all slept better, and the kids adjusted well to it, despite being upset about the initial decision to do it.

The book itself is not amazing, but the subject is definitely interesting.

imago said:

Your threads make the prospect tempting!

It'd be hard. Only because these things keep people that I care about within reach. I'm not the 'web surfing' type. I'm not up at night on the internet for hours or stay on my phone constantly.

Nope. All of my important people are online.

Without a cell phone? Dayum that's like living without toilet paper, or soap, or air.

Nah... can't do it.