The internet has become a staple in our society, with everyone from kindergarten students to senior citizens having some form of technology. Although being connected to the world around us makes our lives easier, some believe that it is destroying our relationships with one another. 

After class on Wednesday, I sat down near the food court in Trabant to observe how groups of people interacted with one another. Unfortunately, no one seemed very interested in the conversations they were having. Two girls were on their phones while “talking” to one another. One seemed too interested in what was going on with her Tik Tok account to care about what the person next to her was saying. A large group of guys were on their laptops, but were only making conversation with one another based on what was in their meme group chat on Instagram. 

I decided to ask some people about their phones, and why they feel like they need them all of the time. One student said, “My teachers are always posting new announcements on Canvas and I like to keep an eye on my emails and grades”. Another student took a more honest approach and said, “I truly think I have an addiction to stay on top of everything in my friend’s and family’s lives. I feel like I could be missing out on something important”. The last girl I spoke to was previously in a top tier sorority. She had constantly updated her profile on all of her social media accounts so she would be more appealing to the higher status sororities when it came time for recruitment. She ended up joining a sorority her freshman year, but all the “fakeness” she had posted on her social media platforms made her feel like an outsider in that particular sorority. She wasn’t being her true self, and ended up becoming a disaffiliated member this past fall semester. She continued to tell me that, “social media is meant to be a place to share things with friends and family that you may not be able to show them in person – not about posting pretentious or scandalous pictures”. As our conversation was coming to a close, she said, “Just remember, there’s a big difference between every person’s real life and their social media life.”

While there are benefits to having social media, it has been crippling our generation’s ability to communicate. I have also noticed that it has lowered people’s self confidence, and caused many to feel excluded and inferior. It is very upsetting to see how social media has torn our society apart. I think it is time to pick our heads up from our screens and appreciate the real life people and places around us.