On July 2, 2016, authorities in Peru said a German tourist plunged to his death in a deep Andean ravine while posing for a photo in an area above the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu that is closed to visitors. Furthermore, it was mentioned that the tourist had entered a restricted area, meant to keep tourists away in order to take that picture. While the death is unfortunate, it really makes you think about how far a person will go in order to experience life at its fullest. None of us know why he decided it would be a good idea to capture a photo in a highly dangerous area of Machu Picchu, but what we do know is that people do go to great lengths in order to obtain shock value.

Social media is ever blossoming in our culture and its capabilities seem infinite sometimes. Much of what we post is with the intention of gaining "likes" and this seems to give users a sense of approval and satisfaction. Getting involved with social media is like a double edged sword. While it has some benefits such as enhancing your personal brand and help further your career, there are many disadvantages that I don’t think people think about unless it is directly brought to their attention. Social media has allowed us to hide behind screens and limit our social interaction face to face. You get the feeling of being social without having to go out and socialize. But how worth it is that feeling of being social without actually being social? Social media is being used nowadays as a baseline for validation and acceptance. You can receive 300+ likes on your pictures on Facebook and Instagram, but would 300 people in real life talk about how amazing you are? Not only does social media give us a false sense of security but it belittles our interpersonal and social skills as human beings.

So how do you measure how likeable you are? By the amount of likes or follows? Or by how content and rich you find your own life? Personally, I would say the latter. It took me a while to learn that what goes on social media does not equate to happiness. Yes, a notification telling you that someone likes your picture or someone has said something nice about you can feel like temporary happiness but it’s not where you would find long term happiness. Long term happiness means surrounding yourself with family, friends, and activities which make you progress in a positive direction. They help you grow and become a better person. There’s no competition to see how gets the most likes or follows or anxiety over how you’re going to be perceived online by what you say or do. So I say, why not deactivate? Step outside of your comfort zone of being influenced by social media, and spend a day, week, or even a year off of social media. See how it affects your life. All it takes is the will to want to experience life in a new way. So the next time you go visit a cool new place, experience it without the social media, who knows maybe you’ll enjoy it even more and remember, no matter how amazing the picture, it is not worth your life.