To live without a smartphone today would be akin to living under a non-social rock.

For myself, having a smartphone has made communication a much more engaging and interesting medium to get involved in, especially for introverts such as myself.

I was a social loner growing up, my only friends being some of my cousins and a tiny group of other introverts. To finally get a smartphone and have access to all kinds of social media made it easier to reach out to others about the things I liked, mostly my favorite artists and TV shows. For the first time, I was good friends with someone besides my cousins and a close circle of on-and-off friends. Some people I met on Twitter and Tumblr, some living in New York, some far away out Midwest, remain close friends to this day.

But as great as having friends online is, this can become a problem if left unchecked. To have access to social media and online communities can discourage the need to talk with others in real life.

To be an introvert, to be a meek and soft-spoken person, the easier option will always be to stay on your phone and let others talk. Because why risk embarrassing yourself reaching out to strangers after class to make new friends, when you can just continue talking to a friend about that one funny meme on Facebook? Instead of constantly being outspoken when with your peers, your time would be better spent discussing your favorite characters on Reddit, or retweeting tweets from your favorite celebrities or pictures of cute animals.

But to spend too much time on the phone, too much time chatting online, could bring you more trouble than pleasure. While it’s always fun to talk on online forums about the latest episode of so-and-so, nothing beats experiences with people next to you, from bonding over similar interests in clubs, to getting involved in community events and parties on-campus. Ultimately, getting involved in real-life events are what make the bread and butter of living, rather than talking about your favorite anime on a forum.

Of course it is possible to have an active social life locally and have an active online presence. Even I have been successful doing that to some degree nowadays, spending time with friends while on campus and talking with my friends online when I’m home.

It’s never a bad thing to make friends online over something trivial such as retweeting each other’s headcanons. But to stay online in favor of talking to peers in real life will only end up hurting you in the end.