As I was sitting in class just the other day, my mass communications teacher began to inquire us about the spread of media. One of the questions he had asked was if we had become less social or more social based on today’s society? It prompted me to wonder the-ever-so-complex question of whether or not social media has taken over this generation?

There are many pros to having social media, of course. Creating a multimedia through different types of applications and being able to interact with people from all over the world is still a technological phenomenon. It has made �communication significantly easier, letting more people connect with the news and media from all over the world compared to earlier generations.

Although with this great impact on society, it can still let in the distractions sidelining the normal communication in person rather than over social media. As you may not realize it, the more time spent on social media can take away your actual social life right in front of your eyes. The attachment to social media can hurt the chances and opportunities you may end up missing as if you had been paying attention to your surroundings. According to digital trends, considering we are awake 15 hours each day, we ultimately end up spending one-third of that time on our phones. As crazy as that sounds, think about how many times you check Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram every time you get a notification. The amount of times may not be kept track but it has significantly risen from the generation before, quite expectedly.

One of my close friends ended up cutting off social media for a month aside from texting, attempting to find out whether or not it would change her life in some way or alter it. In fact, she began to notice more things she hadn’t merely by walking down the streets or realize things about herself she hadn’t known without the influence of social media telling her by the amount of likes she gets on a photo or the comments she receives.

As for myself, I tend to turn off my phone for a while during my busy hours of the day. Small things like this can truly open your eyes, not for the worse but for the better. Creating an image in your head that you cannot live without social media makes you invent the ideas into your head that you need to overshare your life and every moment behind it with everyone. When in reality, the only one who experienced it was you, fulfilling a greater purpose when you feel content with yourself and to not gain satisfaction from others.