A Swiftie Tracks Her Screen Time The Week The Eras Tour Film Premiered
Seven days of Taylor Swift conspiracy theories, private events, and watching The Vampire Diaries.
In Chronically Online, Elite Daily asks people to get real about their phone habits, tracking their screen time over the course of a week. This week, Elite Daily’s experiences writer, Rachel Chapman — who had a busy week of attending Olivia Rodrigo’s surprise GUTS concert and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie premiere in LA — shares the apps she used, the time she spent scrolling, and why her screen time was all over the place.
As someone whose job is to be on top of viral trends and experiences, I’m almost always doing one of two things: scrolling TikTok at home, or attending an event in Los Angeles and scrolling TikTok while I’m there. Out of habit, I have my phone near me at all times, which doesn’t bode well for my screen time. However, I have a good excuse. I have taken it upon myself to be the one Chronically Online friend in the group, so there is always someone who can explain memes and give the latest Taylor Swift update. Knowing how attached I am to my phone, I was a little nervous to look into my actual habits for a week — and what a week I had.
Not only did I attend a surprise Olivia Rodrigo GUTS concert on Monday, but I was also invited to the premiere of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie on Wednesday. When I wasn’t walking the red carpet with my fellow Swifties, I was getting into The Vampire Diaries for the first time. What inspired me to watch TVD? Well, of course, it was a fan edit that came up on my FYP. If there’s anyone who is a poster child for “TikTok made me do it,” it’s me. Plus, there’s no better time to finally get to know Elena, Stefan, and Damon than October, right? So, this week was full of bloodsucking vampires and Rodrigo’s fame-f*cking ones, with a little bit of Eras Tour in between.
Occupation: Staff Writer, Elite Daily
Age: 33
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Weekly Average (Oct. 8-Oct. 15): 11 hours, 14 minutes
Day 1: Deciding Between Team Stelena Or Team Delena
Like most people, I use my Sundays to unwind before a busy week. I try to do some chores around the house, but what that really means is I procrastinate while scrolling on my phone. This week, my main distraction was The Vampire Diaries. I’m embarrassed to admit that almost 11 hours of my screen time was spent watching TVD on Max, but I wasn’t just sitting in front of my phone the entire time. I did bring it to the kitchen with me to watch as I washed dishes, and I carried it around as I unpacked my suitcase from a recent trip to Disneyland. So, I was being productive while getting lost in the drama of Mystic Falls. I’m team Stelena, by the way.
Seeing my Max minutes did surprise me, though, especially since I left the house to attend the premiere of Avalon TV. My friend asked me to join her as a plus-one last minute, and when he was off networking, I spent my time scrolling Instagram and TikTok. I have a habit of pulling out my phone to avoid my social anxiety, and at one point, I checked my work email because there was nothing else to see on IG. This is when I found out I had gotten invited to the premiere of the Eras Tour movie. I spent the rest of the evening stressing out about what to wear.
When I got home, I put on more episodes of The Vampire Diaries to watch in bed. I’m someone who likes to have noise in the background as I’m falling asleep, so I’ll throw on a TV show. Sometimes, my phone will keep playing that show long after I’m knocked out, and it adds to my screen time — aka another reason why it was so high.
Most Used Apps: Max, Instagram, TikTok
Screen Time: 13 hours, 36 minutes
Day 2: Reporting For Duty At Olivia Rodrigo’s Surprise Show
Monday was a surprisingly busy day for me, because I had the GUTS surprise concert to attend in the evening, plus a full workday to get through first. Sometimes, I’ll have a TV show or music playing in the background as I’m working, and this week it was, of course, The Vampire Diaries. About seven hours of my screen time was dedicated to Elena toying with Stefan and Damon. I can’t believe how many parallels there are to the love triangle on The Summer I Turned Pretty — another one of my TV obsessions.
After work, I got ready and headed downtown to The Theatre at Ace Hotel for the GUTS event. The pop-up had free matcha lattes and photo booths to enjoy before the show, and I made sure to document it all for our social team. Along with taking videos of the “late night bite” taco truck, I also captured content of the show and moments where Rodrigo and her producer, Dan Nigro, shared BTS stories of their time making the album. That took up about an hour of my screen time with the camera app.
When I got home, I spent time on TikTok and Instagram, trying to see what Livies were talking about from the show. I do have a screen time limit set for TikTok that comes up if I’m on the app for over 90 minutes, so I couldn’t scroll for too long. Once TikTok told me to politely “touch grass,” I went back to marathon-watching TVD and wondering if I should shop for Elena Gilbert core outfits.
Most Used Apps: Max, TikTok, Instagram, Camera
Screen Time: 13 hours, 26 minutes
Day 3: Getting Lost In The Scroll
Knowing I had my big Taylor Swift premiere the next day, I decided to keep my Tuesday chill. When I clocked in for work, I started on a recap of the Olivia Rodrigo concert and scrolled Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to see other fans’ videos from the event. I also used Instagram to poll my close friends on which outfit to wear to the Eras Tour premiere.
I had already settled on a blue dress that channeled both the Midnights and 1989 era, but since I wore it to one of the Eras Tour shows in LA, I was worried about being an outfit repeater à la Lizzie McGuire. So, I posted four potential ‘fits on my IG story for people to vote on and checked the results throughout the day. (Spoiler alert: The blue dress won in the end.) But, between my scrolling and double-checking of the polls, I was on IG for over two hours. I might want to put a limit there as well, like I do with TikTok.
Most Used Apps: Max, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter
Screen Time: 10 hours, 19 minutes
Day 4: Having My “Pinch Me” Moment Seeing Taylor Swift IRL
Wednesday was the big day. I had work in the morning, but it was hard to focus knowing I’d be seeing Taylor Swift in just a few hours. So, I tried distracting myself by putting on episodes of The Vampire Diaries while I worked, but the Swiftie Struggle was real.
When it was time to get ready, I put on an Eras Tour playlist on Spotify. Throughout the day, I was getting text messages from my friends asking how I was feeling and for updates. Unfortunately, I had terrible service at The Grove, where the premiere was being held, so I was on the Messages app the whole time I was on the red carpet trying to send my texts.
Luckily, I was able to send some adorable videos I captured of Swift taking pics with her dancers when she first arrived. Beyond having the photographic proof that I saw her, though, I blacked out after seeing Swift in person and can’t remember much.
Most Used Apps: Max, Messages, TikTok, Spotify
Screen Time: 10 hours, 4 minutes
Day 5: Dealing With Post-Eras Tour Sadness
What do you do the day after you see Taylor Swift? Well, you have PCD (post-concert depression), of course. I spent the majority of my Thursday just reminiscing about the Eras Tour movie premiere by watching TikToks and Reels from everyone else who was there. I even ignored by TikTok limit for the day, and scrolled the FYP until I got the “you’ve been scrolling for way too long now” video.
I distracted myself by going to a Jack in the Box event in Hollywood after work. The party, promoting their new spicy Angry Monster Tacos, was held at No Vacancy, which is a speakeasy you enter by going down a staircase under a bed. It definitely gave me haunted house vibes, which was perfect for Halloween, and I documented the experience on Instagram — adding to my screen time for the day.
Most Used Apps: TikTok, Instagram, Max
Screen Time: 10 hours, 12 minutes
Day 6: Seeing The Eras Tour Movie... Again
Before I was invited to the world premiere of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, I bought tickets to see it on Friday. Since those were non-refundable (and plus, I wanted to see it again), I went to see the Eras Tour once more after work. This time around, I paid close attention to the details I missed the first time, like the Easter eggs to the 1989 double album theory. I actually disregarded my TikTok limits again to keep watching more Eras Tour content and Swiftie conspiracy theories on the FYP.
While Friday was the day I spent the least amount of time on my phone, those TikToks and catching up on some Vampire Diaries still took over a combined six hours of my screen time. Yikes!
Most Used Apps: Max, TikTok, Instagram
Screen Time: 9 hours, 27 minutes
Day 7: Relaxing With Disney Cruise Vlogs
My Saturdays can either be really busy or super relaxing. This week, I had the latter with zero plans other than trying to see the “ring of fire” solar eclipse. When I wasn’t staring (indirectly) at the sun, I was watching more episodes of The Vampire Diaries and Disney vlogs on YouTube.
When I was prepping for a big trip to Japan this year, I watched a ton of travel vlogs for inspo on things to do, and now, it’s something I do for every vacation I have planned. Since I have another cruise coming up, I watched almost four hours of Disney travel videos on Saturday. While that’s a little humiliating to admit, I discovered that there are certain days on the Disney Magic where they serve off-the-menu churro Mickey Mouse waffles. Now, I know to look out for those when I go.
Most Used Apps: YouTube, Max
Screen Time: 11 hours, 30 minutes
Final Thoughts: I’m Doing A Lot Better Than I Thought I Was
If I subtracted all of The Vampire Diaries I watched this week, my screen time would actually be a lot less than I would have originally guessed. I was surprised that I only bypassed my screen time limits for TikTok two out of the seven days, so those restrictions really do work. I think it’s time I finally put something in place for other apps I scroll way too much, like Instagram and Twitter.
Of course, I might wait until after 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has been out for a while, though. I need to have easy access to all those Swiftie theories — it’s for my job, after all.
