Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat. We hear and see these forms of social media all around us. It's one of the most universal things the human race shares. In fact, it's what connects our world, allowing someone from Brazil to discover and become associated with someone in France in a matter of seconds. Yet, as we grow stronger in the online world, we grow weaker in the physical world.

Social media is constantly surrounding us. Trends and news are created and circulated through social media but at a price of weakening our direct communication with other people. Nowadays, when you're on the bus or sitting at the park, more people are on their phones, scavenging for likes and hounding for followers rather than connecting with the person sitting right next to them.

This lack of face-to-face communication is taking its toll on time spent physically interacting with other people.

Kids are now staying inside, allowing their brains to mindlessly wander on social media than going outside and playing with other children. The gap between family members is growing; more time spent on social media means less time spent with family. In fact, it has been found that over an average person's lifetime, a person will spend five years and four months on social media. This number is growing as technology advances, and children receive technology as young as the age of three.

The younger the age at which smartphones and tablets are received, the more prone the child is to using the internet and social media for as twice as long as their parents originally did, once they become adults. One in three children, who receive technology at a young age, will face struggles in activities that involve concentration such as schoolwork

The increase in usage of social media has also led to an increase in mental health issues and emotional issues. Research has found that social media websites, like Facebook can lead to mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety. How many likes have I gotten in the past five minutes? Why hasn't this person commented on my photo? Why didn't they follow me back? Why do they look better in this photo than I do? There's a constant overflow of mixed feelings, because users are always comparing themselves to other users to see who is better.

Like all things, social media comes with its pros and cons. It connects people worldwide, but it also causes people to become less interactive in person.

Because there isn't a set limit, people overuse social media, causing them to become emotionally and mentally dependent on social media. Rather than using it as something to sparingly utilize for five minutes a day as entertainment, it's something people abuse for five hours a day as an addiction. So don't be afraid to hit the "offline" button or log off a site; it's okay if you got five less likes than usual. We need to learn how to utilize social media so it helps us advance as a innovating human race and not let it reduce us into a race of mindless zombies.

In order to achieve that we must realize one thing: we are connected through the internet; now it's time to reconnect through the real world.