According to Merriam Webster, "social media" are defined as, "forms of electronic communication (as websites for social networking and micro-blogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages and other content (as videos)."

What are social media to you? Are they ways to keep in touch with your high school friends as they embark on their unique and individual college journeys? Journeys which may or may not include a weekly Snapchat of their handle of choice for the weekend, an Instagram from their last vacation with a caption pertaining to how they should be studying for finals or a Facebook status lamenting about how their phone is broken? Do you use it to show your friends all the cool places you went this summer?

Do you use social media for self promotion? Maybe you have been hitting the gym a lot and want to show off your new bod with a not-so-candid picture of you flaunting your new physique. Maybe you got a new haircut that you love and want to show your friends your new hairstyle. Maybe you post a video of you playing the new song you just learned on the ukelele.

Perhaps you want to give off a certain vibe. Artsy, fit, outdoorsy, whatever best fits your personality.

Without exhausting the topic, clearly, there are an infinite amount of uses for social media. For many reasons, social media are great. In this new digital world, they are a new and interesting way to not only communicate with friends and family, but to express yourself.

With that being said, I pose a question to you: Where does life fit into this?

I don't mean life in the form of going to class, going to the gym or hanging out with your friends. I don't mean life in the connotation people use when they say, "I have a life, you know."

I mean life in the form of everyday moments. The breaths you take. The beauty of the world around you, whether it be a sunrise, the perfect beach day or flowers on the side of the highway. The mundane conversations exchanged with random people at the grocery store or at the coffee shop. The laughs with your friends. Family dinners.

Do these moments matter anymore in the sense of experiencing pleasure for ourselves or are we too busy trying to capture these moments in the form of social media? Think about it: What did you enjoy more? That beautiful sunset you saw the other night or the number of likes you got on the picture you posted of it?

While I am all about the idea of capturing moments in the form of photos, are we doing it for the right reasons anymore? Are we doing it with the intent on enjoying this moment for ourselves or are we doing it to impress and gain self assurance from others?

With that being said, I challenge you. Next time you experience something in your life that makes you happy; a delicious salad, a PR on your 5K, a high score on your video game, a concert, whatever it may be enjoy the moment for yourself, not for others. Enjoy that moment in your real life, not the one that exists in your Instagram profile or on your Facebook page. I can promise you won't regret it.