It is 3 p.m., my phone is at 36% and I stopped writing mid-sentence to check my Instagram feed. I anticipate many similar breaks throughout my writing process. Does that make me an addict?

We are the generation of digital youth. A typical day for me goes like this; I wake up, immediately check the time on my phone (which either lies in bed with me or is just a short reach away on my nightstand), I check my text messages from the night before, check Snapchat, watch endless Snapchat Stories, catch up on GroupMe, browse through Instagram, next Twitter, Facebook, top it off with Timehop, and depending on my mood, look at my email (and then usually close my email because I would rather not deal with all that responsibility before a cup of coffee). Just when you thought it was over, I’m back at that cycle until I deem myself ready to leave bed. Once I leave bed, I continue this cycle no less than 4 times per hour. Before I fall asleep I do a detailed scan of all social media accounts until the updates start to slow and my eyes become heavy. If you ask me what my worst nightmare is, I would most likely reply “a day without screens”. If I go too long without checking my phone or computer, I actually crave the bright light shining on my face.

While our parents and trendy friends will harp on us about how we spend too much time on our dang phones and not enough time in the moment, I simply block out the sound of their voice by turning the volume of my Vine a few squares higher. The way I see it, we can either fight the fact that our generation has a so-called “problem” or we can embrace and use it to our advantage. Through media we are capable of making connections anytime and anywhere with efficiency like never before (a.k.a: that break up just became a text and not a coffee date of bad news and we are psyched!). Not only can we connect with the people in the physical space around us, but also with people miles away, no limitations. HOW COOL?! I can’t be the only one who sees all that we can learn and discover because we have digital technologies and social media. Because of these connections we have become a significantly more efficient generation. In a time where everyone values speed, I could not think of a more perfect advancement than digital media.

While it may be melodramatic for me to say that social media has literally changed my life, it’s true. It is because of social media that I landed an internship this summer with the Odyssey and because of social media that I realized I could turn my love for super bowl commercials and hashtags into a career someday. When my parents begin their rants (taglines varying from: “it’s bad for your eyes” to “who cares what everyone else is doing you are with me and that is the best”) I just weather the storm and I think of the time a YouTube video of a bear climbing a rope once brought my dad to tears and remember that if it weren’t for my social media accounts leading to this discovery of gold he would never have had this experience.

So, stop and smell the roses in life, and while you’re at it, pick the perfect filter, gram it and sit back and smile at all the likes!