Technology has been developing constantly, at a rate that we can’t even imagine or understand. It’s a key part of our growing generation and it plays a huge role in our current culture. Creativity and imagination are so important and significant, but technology has taken over that for our generation and future generations. Technology has hindered social interactions and relationships by using up our time and creating an illusion of what life really is about. It has blurred the lines of seeing what is valuable with our interests. We are losing interactions that could also hurt us in the professional world, due to the loss of face-to-face communication. Many people around the world believe that phones and the Internet are must-haves, and they cannot live without technology. However, the more we use technology to interact with others, the more we lose our touch with reality. Although communicating via technology might be easier, it does not in any way promote conversing one-on-one. Having strong communication skills is a necessity in the professional world, and it can help you to better understand people.

We don’t go out to meet with our friends and family to talk today. Messages such as “what’s up” or “hey” fill up our inboxes throughout the day. Most of these text conversations are just small talk. Not only that, but with texting, it is easy to misinterpret tone or attitude without body language.

Even the way we meet people has changed. We can use applications and websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tinder, or Instagram to “flirt” with people. We use “likes” to represent our interest in someone or something. It has become much less common to meet new people while out shopping or at public events because of social media.

To make things worse, people can become obsessed with how many “likes” they receive. With social media, we seem to actually be doing things to impress people. We gain confidence and we judge people by how many likes they get, and people can also obsess over their follower or following ratio.

When we are bored, we tend to scroll on our phones, checking out Tumblr, Snapchat, Instagram, Yik Yak, Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media.We begin to get so caught up on what other people are doingand what’s happening in their lives rather than focusing on our own.

Netflix and television are also guilty. It is easy to get caught up in shows and watch season after season because it’s so entertaining. But what about our own lives? Why don’t we invest more time with our life experiences rather than watching a show that portrays other peoples’ experiences? This could easily consume hours of time, as compared to something such as playing a sport with friends or taking a class.

Kids now use technology more than ever. When a child is bored, a parent might let them play with their phone or iPad to entertain them. Now, even a 5 year old could have a phone and it would be considered “normal”. When I was a kid, I went outside to play with my friends; I played with my toys and played pretend.

Put down your phone, stash your laptop away, and get out into the real world. Make life experiences that you won’t forget. Get lost in a book, unravel yourself, and learn new things. Go out and meet people, find new hobbies, teach yourself to paint or how to play the guitar. There are so many things that you can do in your lifetime. Let’s go back to the old days. Use technology a little less, and get out and do more. We don’t need social media to gain confidence or prove ourselves worthy to others- that shouldn’t matter to anyone.