This has been on my mind for a while and I think this topic deserves more attention than it gets. In an advancing world of technology, this generation is entering the first fruits of its downfall. And I'm not saying that lightly.

There is a serious problem occurring in the world; in the Western world more specifically. Our younger generations are becoming more and more disconnected from the world while at the same time desiring more and more attention from the people in it. Likes and comments on social media networks have been shown to affect a person's self-esteem and self-worth.

Our worlds are starting to revolve more and more around technology. We rely on it to connect with each other. Instead of meeting with a person face to face, we trade in that personal connection for an easier alternative: texting or talking on the phone. We don't understand the underlying consequences that these "easier" alternatives bring. We have become disconnected from each other in ways unimaginable.

We may think that technology is somehow bringing us closer together, but in reality, it might be what's actually pulling us apart. Studies have shown that social media is linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression and poor sleep. Those rates have increased 70% in the past 25 years alone. Coincidence, much? I think not.

Not only that, but there has been an increasing epidemic of narcissism circulating today's generation and it seems as though social media has played a big part in that. We've become so self-centered that we've forgotten about the bigger picture.

It's become normal for people to actually celebrate the fact that they got a lot of retweets on a specific tweet or likes on a specific picture. It's the equivalent to becoming famous now. You got 50,000 retweets? Wow, you're famous!! 1,000 likes? Nice, congrats!!

Now, there's nothing wrong with people taking notice of this. But more often than not, people are constantly craving that kind of attention. They feed off of that due to the sole fact that it's where their self-worth derives. Nowadays, in the pursuit to get more of this attention, we've created a culture of false intellectualism where people say "deep" things just to be perceived as a guru holding some kind of unfound wisdom.

It's become so superficial. There's very little authenticity left in this virtual world we've created. I mean, it makes sense that there isn't. The world itself was fake from the start. It's always been people uploading the best aspects of their lives without showing the full spectrum of it. They hide their insecurities behind a phone or computer screen, putting on their best faces, without actually showing their faces.

I must admit, there are many friendships and relationships that have formed from social media. I know this from experience. However, many of these so-called relationships, whether platonic or romantic, can be extremely shallow and skin-deep.

There are couples who will literally take a video just to make out in front of a camera and post it on social media for likes and comments. There are friends who will take pictures together captioned "My babe!" and they hardly have any kind of true attachment to each other.

Now, I don't say any of these things to be cynical. I think all of these false relationships can become true connections if we stopped letting social media act as an intermediary between us all. I'm not saying to literally get rid of social media, but to remove the need to use social media as a means to get attention or approval.

Post pictures with your friends because you genuinely enjoy their company, not because you want to make it look like you have a social life. Post things that you actually care about, not things that you know others will care about. Once we do that, our lives can become truly interconnected again. We, as humans, can join to form an actual community again.

This detachment from others caused by our attachment to social media is actually linked to increased feelings of loneliness. And of course, if we're disconnected from each other, we're bound to feel lonely. This is just more proof of the ill-effects that technology has on us all.

I think it's time that we reevaluate where today's generation is headed. Because the route that we're on is headed toward an even more disconnected world. Where genuine connections no longer matter and superficiality reigns. I don't know about you, but that's not the kind of world that I want to live in and it's definitely not the kind of world I want our future generations to live in either.