In this current day and age, technology is thriving and continuing to fulfill a purpose in our everyday lives. Technological innovations such as cell phones, computers, apps, even television have become such a necessity for us human beings. Although these technological advancements have helped us progress farther in society, I'd like to argue that despite the step forward, we have also taken a step back. We as human beings are becoming desensitized and almost obsessed with what we see on a handheld screen. We spend hours of our days scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit or any other app/ site for what real purpose? To keep ourselves updated with what other people are doing with their lives? When as a society have we let other people's posts and comments dominate the way we see the world?

Now I want to clarify the point I'm trying to make. I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life or criticize you for looking at or posting on Facebook -it's normal. I'm guilty of staring at my phone and computer screen as much as the next person. What I want you to consider is that what you see on a screen, in actuality, is not very important and as a generation, we all should spend less time scrolling and more time looking up. One of my favorite videos on the internet is about this very topic of obsessive screen staring and appropriately titled “Look Up". It centers on the idea that every second we stare at the screen, we waste a moment in our real life, the life we spend on face to face conversations, pranks we play on friends or dates we organize for a special someone. How can we cherish and appreciate every wonderful moment we experience when we are too focused on reading a Facebook post about Zane I-don't-know-his-last-name-nor-do-I-care leaving One Direction? (I'll let you ponder on which of the two matters more to your actual well-being and life).

However, I will admit that social media does indeed have a purpose in our lives. Every platform is unique and keeps us as a generation together. We can continue to maintain the relationships we have formed with others more easily and effectively, all from the development of social media. I'm not telling you to separate yourself from any form of media, but rather to live in the moment that is your day-to-day life.

To help paint the picture for you, consider life as writing an autobiography with your own memories, storytelling, raw emotions, and physical scars as a metaphor for each individual. Now imagine, this autobiography being constantly interrupted with pop-ups, with these pop ups being the content we focus so heavily upon on social media. This leaves the writer (you) to skip content which, coincidentally, could have resulted in a rich, memorable experience. This autobiography that everyone is writing can't be referenced or flipped back too, so when you're writing about seeing that cute college classmate and thinking about asking him or her out for coffee, it becomes unreadable when *bing* you check out your latest Snapchat pop-up. I'll admit that was a slightly extreme example, but the fact remains; opportunities and moments are missed when we stare at a screen, a screen other than the one being seen with our own two eyes.

I'm not asking for any of you to change the way you live, just consider that the words and pictures you see on Twitter, Instagram, or whatever social media site ultimately aren't that important. We all, including myself, should try and spend less time on reading about what we and others have written, and focus more on writing our own story, pop-up free.