I am sure many of you can recall scrolling through Facebook on a Friday night. Maybe you had to stay in to do some homework or maybe you merely wanted to read a book and relax. Whatever the case may be, while scouring through your news feed you can't help but notice that it seems like everyone is having a great time. That is, except for you of course. You're in your dorm room while all your friends, it appears, are out at clubs partying. Or maybe they're on a skip trip. Or they were just accepted into their dream graduate school program. The point being that it seems like everyone you know has it more together than you do. Everyone else has a purpose, a drive, or an end goal in mind. While you, you're just curled up on your bed reading the newest Stephen King novel. Why can't you have the same purpose as your friends?

This, in many ways, is one of the profoundly negative aspects of using social media, especially Facebook. No one, for the most part, ever posts about their heartbreaks, inner struggles, or the monotony of our day-to-day existence. No one posts a status about their car breaking down or the fight they got into with their romantic partner. This is entirely intentional, in my opinion. Instead, we all present the best version of ourselves. We groom the superficial aspects of our lives and share that online. Vulnerability is a bad thing, insecurity is a bad thing. Showing the world any aspect of your life that is not carefully and diligently vetted is a bad thing. This is precisely why, if I'm ever feeling depressed, I try to avoid Facebook. I do not believe that scrolling through an endless news feed replete with people trying to compete with one another over whose life is more perfect is psychologically or emotionally healthy.

In a way, this is truly sad. It's sad to me that some people put so much thought and emphasis in crafting a social media persona that they forget the important of real and unfiltered human interaction. I think that Facebook is akin to some sort of virtual filter. It allows us to censor or diminish all of our insecurities. We only show the world the version of ourselves that we think they would like. Within my own life, the people I consider my closest friends are the ones who are not afraid to be honest or open up about their emotions. Technology is truly a double-edged sword. On one hand, sites such as Facebook have allowed unprecedented levels of communication and internet activism. It has truly changed the ways in which humans are able to interact with one another. However, paradoxically, technology has also driven us further apart. Everyday interactions are now filtered and dissected through the lens of social media. Maybe if we all spent some time off of Facebook, if only for a few hours a week, we could start to realize that the world that exists outside of social media is infinitely more rewarding and exciting.

So hit the 'x' next to the Facebook tab, scroll left on your smartphone and let the good times roll for real.