Whether it's Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, social media is criticized for destroying our generation. People say we spend too much time looking at our phones instead of paying attention to what is in front of us. But, as a college student, there is one thing that makes me thankful for social media more than anything.

Throughout growing up, I have learned to deal with saying goodbye to people. Things are always changing as people come and go. Growing and moving apart from family and friends is inevitable, and is the reason I am thankful for social media. Social media makes it easy to interact with people from wherever they are in the world.

Being in my second summer of college, I found myself relying on social media to keep up with my friends from school. I will be able to see everything they do while we are apart and prepare to talk about it when we get back. Then, once fall semester begins, we will be able to pick up right where we left off.

When older generations criticize us for our sometimes excessive technology use, they don't quite understand what they are missing out on. I have noticed that these people also seem to at least have a Facebook. I do not think they put Facebook in this category because once you pull out Snapchat, all hell breaks loose and you are the most basic teen of 2016.

It is because of these social media platforms that I will be able to know if one of my friends needs reaching out to. It is because of these that I am able to plan things for the future with people I love. There are so many positive things spread through social media that get overlooked by the older generations habit of telling us it is bad to participate in.

There is a fine line between using social media and overusing social media. Once I start to display poor manners in front of my elders or even my peers, I expect to be called out on it. But when I am in the leisure of my own home, or on summer break, I should be allowed to share my life with people I care about without being judged for it.

I do not think those who criticize social media realize the effect it has had not only on our economy but on society as a whole. Without even realizing it, we participate in advanced media platforms every day. If you have a cell phone, especially ones with applications, you cannot judge youth for utilizing what is in front of them. Especially because one day it is them who will be responsible for growing technology as we know it, even further.