Michael Calore: Yes.
Lauren Goode: Yes.
Michael Calore: What about you, Zoe?
Zoë Schiffer: My total screen time. I looked it up earlier and I think it lasts three hours and forty minutes on my phone, which honestly seems impressive to me. You're raising your eyebrows, Mike, why are you doing that? Only a few minutes of that are actually on social media apps. I feel like I deserve a Medal of Honor.
Michael Calore: You actually deserve Medal of Honor. I have a timer on my phone that goes off after I've been on Instagram for more than 20 minutes. I hit that timer every day.
Lauren Goode: This is no joke. He follows this. I've sent Mike memes before and gotten no response, and because we work across the newsroom from each other, sometimes I literally go over to his desk and go, “Did I just see that thing I sent you?”
Zoë Schiffer: They are the thirsty.
Lauren Goode: No, I know. He'll say, “No, I ran out of time,” and I'll say, “Are you sticking to that? Check out the meme.”
Michael Calore: Do you ever think about getting rid of the apps?
Lauren Goode: All the time.
Michael Calore: All the time?
Lauren Goode: I'm fantasizing about it right now. What would it be like not to constantly feel like you have to broadcast something?
Michael Calore: Yes. What about you, Zoe?
Zoë Schiffer: To be honest, I don't deal with it that often, but I've been on parental leave for a few months now, so the answer is that I think about canceling my phone all the time and I'm honestly amazed at how much time I can spend on my phone even when I'm not using social media apps. And you?
Michael Calore: I often get the urge to just throw the phone across the room and never look at it again, but then I always pick it up and move on.
Lauren Goode: That's usually after I send him a terrible meme.
Michael Calore: Yes, or I'll come up with a joke.
Lauren Goode: Right.
Michael Calore: Need to clay now. Yes. Well, today we're talking about exactly that: is it time to get off social media? And because there are so many types of social apps and platforms, we're going to focus on the platforms we use the most, the text-based social sites, because we're word people. This is from WIRED Eerie Valleya show about the people, power and influence of Silicon Valley. I'm Michael Calore, director of consumer technology and culture here at WIRED.
