My friend keeps a Post-it note by his computer that says, “You control the voice!”

When I asked him, a little concerned, what “the voice” was, he replied (rather sheepishly) that “the voice” tells him to go on Facebook.

Sure, it’s funny. But beyond that, it’s just a little bit frightening—especially because you can likely identify that voice in your own head. The reward for writing a paragraph of a paper is a quick two minute stop to see if anyone has messaged you.

Of course, once on Facebook you are bombarded with pokes, posts, updates, apps and tags. Life enters a kind of time warp and a “quick stop” can easily turn into an entire evening. Slowly but surely the technology that intends to help you “connect and share with the people in your life” has isolated you.

Philosophy professor Dr. Bob Doede believes that the overuse of social media is more than just a time management issue; it is an ethical issue. Since 2007 he has been challenging his Philosophy 210 class to go on a “media fast,” keeping a journal of their experience giving up television, Facebook, movies, video games and text messaging. The incentive? Five per cent extra credit in the class and loads of free time.

He initiated the fast because he wanted to make the material in Contemporary Ethical Issues more meaningful for students. He says he knew that if they could get away from “the desensitizing and incessant attention shifting that television inflicts upon them,” they would likely find it easier to engage with the ideas in the course.

By 2008 he started to notice students’ obsession with checking their phones before, during and after class. Convinced that “what we can know is integrally linked to how we live,” it dawned on Doede that “these technologies had habituated students into a constant state of shifting partial attention and therefore into a perpetual under-experiencing of their lives.”

Typically in a class of 40 students, 12-17 sign on for the fast, but by the end of the semester, about four have completed it, journal and all. Jessica Lin, a second year Communications major, is one student who intends to go all the way.

“I used to go on Facebook after a long school day to mentally relax,” says Lin, “but I realized it’s not actually relaxing. I’m worried about checking my messages and how long I’ve been logged on for…it’s kind of a relief not to think about it now.”

Lin didn’t anticipate how hard it would be for other people to adapt to getting in touch with her via email. “At first I was a little bit sad at how many friends just disappeared,” says Lin, “but I’m deepening relationships with people who are close to me. I have more time to write long emails.”

Doede says deeper relationships are one of the many benefits students journal about during the fast. “Students will pick up a new hobby, experience their GPA rising, even lose weight.” With all the upsides of saying “no” to social media, why aren’t more people giving it up?

“I still see the value of Facebook,” says Lin, “and life was a lot easier when I could make quick plans over text.” Jessica is planning to re-engage Facebook when the fast is over, but she is not likely to use it as a mental relaxant anymore.

“All technologies have tradeoffs,” says Doede. “You lose something (which is often important but not apparent) when you gain something (which is often trivial but seductively visible).” Remember: You control “the voice.”