When did we start basing our self-worth on likes and follows instead of on who we are and what we have to offer? It’s scary to think how much of an influence social media has on us-–we live our lives through emojis and tweets instead of living in the real world. Is it easier that way? Because who would we be if we didn’t have the world telling us?

Twitter tells us that what we have to say isn’t important if it’s more than 140 characters. Facebook tells us that “likes” and “love” reactions show us who our true friends are, but why then can’t they just like us and love us to our actual faces? Often times, you find out about your “best friend’s” relationship on Facebook instead of hearing it from them in person. Snapchat lets us use the text bar to cover our “imperfections.” Instagram makes it so easy to hide behind filters. Who taught us that what we see isn’t good enough without a filter?

Social media enables us to hide behind our phones and computers. The more “connected” we are on social media, the more disconnected we are from the world around us. Before, if you had to wait at a bus stop or were eating by yourself in a restaurant, you couldn’t bury your face in your phone. You would have to look up and look around-–take in your surroundings, exchange smiles and maybe even strike up a conversation with the person at the next table over. Now, though, we take awkward pauses as a signal to pull out our phones.

During this finals week, I deleted every form of social media I had in order to focus on studying. When I would see something funny or something I thought was worth sharing, I would instinctively pull out my phone to open Snapchat, before realizing it wasn’t there anymore. Multiple times I contemplated re-downloading it just to capture that beautiful sunset or fat squirrel, but I resisted. I thought, is this really a worthwhile thing to share?

This week has changed my whole perspective on social media’s influence over us-–I used to think we couldn’t do without it. Now I realize that I’d rather share a funny joke with a friend in person and hear their roaring laughter instead of reading “hahaha lmfao” off of my screen. I’d rather feel good about myself because I liked how I looked when I looked in the mirror instead of because I got likes on a photo. I’d rather spend my life living moments instead of trying to capture them. Because, at the end of the day, when you log out of social media and turn off your phones, the only friends that matters are the ones sitting next to you and the only one who can make you feel good about yourself is you.