Our society is ever-changing, with new technology, new social media and new trends and fads that everyone in our generation is forced to filter through every day. But how often do we really think about what kind of impact this is having on us and how we are influencing others around us by how we act?

In this day and age, many, if not all of us, are constantly barraged with an endless flow of information, whether this be from classes, from social media or simply from communicating with each other. We've created this society for ourselves where face-to-face interactions are becoming rare, and we feel entitled to everything this world has to offer us, not because we've earned it, but because it's all so easily available to us. We all hide behind computer and phone screens, saying things to each other that we never would in real life, and pretending to be things that we aren't. Now, am I against technology? Of course not. I use Facebook and Twitter and worry about my Instagram "likes" just as much as anyone else would. But I do think it's causing more harm that we realize.

Technology, however, isn't our only problem. We have a whole new mentality about things that this burst in social media have helped stir up. Nowadays, we've put human relationships on the back burner and less important things in the forefront. As a whole, we don't care about each other as much as we used to. We send passive aggressive texts and messages to each other instead of consulting in person, or balance multiple significant others just because no one can fully commit to one another. Since when is it OK to have a "main bae" and ten other "side baes"?? Why is it so hard for us to dedicate ourselves, not only to one person, but to even one specific task?

Even while writing this article I've checked texts, GroupMe, Instagram and Facebook. We're so used to having so many options available to us, that we've forgotten to make time for what matters. We take pictures to put them on Instagram and only post the ones that we think will get the most "likes." We envy celebrities with no real talent because they have the most followers, get the most likes and appear in the most tabloids. We're so afraid to be ourselves because society has taught us that we're not beautiful unless we have thick eyebrows, full lips, the stomach of a ten-year-old boy and hips and a booty that even Kimmy K would envy. We contour our faces because that's what our favorite celebs do. We're afraid to be unique and ourselves and stand out from the crowd, because we think that people won't like us. We flirt with each other, not by saying what we feel or meaning what we say, but by "favoriting" a Tweet or "liking" an Insta pic. We constantly have to decipher each other's true emotions because they're associated with being weak.

Well, maybe our weaknesses and our vulnerability are what makes us beautiful. Maybe it's OK to allow ourselves to be something more than the amount of "likes" we average. We shouldn't let our self worth be defined by a Tumblr page or our self confidence be destroyed by anonymous hate that's only a click away. We need to stop hiding behind our screens, and focus on human connections, because what we fail to realize is the damage it's doing to ourselves and to generations to come. So maybe we should turn off our cell phones for an hour and make an honest attempt to relate to one another, and maybe we'll start to feel better.