Before arriving to swab summer, you have to deactivate all social media accounts. When you arrive at swab summer, you turn in your phone. The only communication you have is by writing letters, although you will get your phone back briefly after the Mystic Flag Ceremony (about half way through the summer) and during your week on the tall ship Eagle at the end of the summer.
After swab summer is over and you become a 4/c cadet, you will get your phone back. However, you still cannot use social media. You can use the internet for general research and for emails, but no social media.
Usually, after a certain percentage of the 4/c class passes their boards (which tests all the indoc Coast Guard military information you will be studying all year), then you will gain back social media privileges. The date of the boards varies, but this year the 4/c had their boards last weekend (2 March). The 4/c cadets also gain other privileges at this time as well.
