I am a Millennial.

I will have a biased opinion on whether or not social media has impacted my day-to-day life. I vaguely even remember myself using the landline we had in my house growing up; but I do remember my first cell phone that was given to me in 6th grade. That is where my obsession began; I conformed with the new age way of living- rather it be called being connected or not. Since then the Smartphone phenomena has only increased and I and those around me have only become more and more obsessed with having our phones turned on and accounts logged into.

I tracked my usage- every day. I tracked when I used my phone, what I used it for, and how long each "session" lasted. What I concluded was not shocking, taking into consideration we all know the average young adult spends, probably, an unhealthy amount of time with their phone in their hands or in front of a screen, but it was eye opening. I do not want to be part of the epidemic that consumes the lives of people through social media. That is not me.

Except it is.

How does a college student still have the time with class, extra curricular activities, and all nighters spent doing homework, to spend three hours on social media in just three days? That does not sound like too much; averaging about an hour a day. What do you do when you scroll through your timelines? Do you read each post with the thought you will take the time to analyze its meaning and spend more than 20 seconds looking at it? No, that isn’t how we do it. We go fast, maybe hit the like button, occasionally comment a smiley face or a heart emoji. An hour a day is a lot.

The question being discussed is, however, whether this is a problem. Is it a problem to spend so much time being connected? Does having my phone on me all the time mean I am never connected, but just there? It is too quick to assume that Millennial’s care no more about society except what is reflected through their media timelines; that they are out of touch with reality and use their phones for no beneficial reasons. Heck, throw it back a decade or so ago and you see social media just beginning to blossom. Sure you had a MySpace, Facebook or Twitter, but it by no means contained the information it does today.

What about when it is used for good?

Fast forward from the first sightings and troubleshooting these media sites were working through. Hit 2014 and social media has already shifted the perspective the world has on business and society. It has become what I think of as the both the world's greatest problem and best friend.

Social media and journalism. That has no correlation, right? But it does-- it has much to do with journalism, and journalism is essential for our democracy so hey it must be important to note the ties right? Media convergence has had a obvious impact on how we consume media and what we do with it. Companies are allowing users to post free range to their social media accounts with little-to-no limitations. Thank net neutrality for this. Think about Twitter, a site where you get followed...creepy. Actually, Twitter has done its fair share of exemplifying the good in how media can impact society. When the government raided Osama Bin Laden's fortress in Pakistan, the entire raid was being live streamed via Twitter by a nearby citizen, going viral on the web before the news crews had gotten the chance to cover and air it. Even today with the unfortunate and seemingly unavoidable events that have surfaced in the last year or so, social media has played the most important role of shaping the public opinion and making each event an uproar.

The shootings going viral on the internet involving police and black men have been shot with phone cameras-- even live streamed on Facebook. Phones have changed the way news is being produced and distributed with their accessibility to any site within seconds. Every day there is content being retweeted or shard on Twitter and Facebook that reach to literally, hundreds of thousands of users across the world. It gets the media out and it gets it seen.

So we come to the conclusion of this discussion; is social media ruining lives? Is it, in fact, too controlling in our daily agenda? That does not have a simple answer, but it does have qualifiers. Playing devil’s advocate is easy with this topic. However, do think next time you use a social media networking site, whether what you are consuming is worth you time. Think of it as an easy access to various viewpoints and discussions to increase your knowledge on a topic.

When you see a someone texting, sending out tweets or posting photos, do not be as quick to assume that it is nothing (except maybe a lot of times it is nothing but never mind). As consumers we are producers. Social media is a gateway for the thoughts, ideas and lives of individuals to be shared whether it make an impact or not. It globalizes voices of those otherwise quick to go unknown; it is easier to do something remarkable and be provided with feedback or goodwill from others through social media than not. There is no right or wrong answer to this; rather it is just a discussion on despite seeing the apparent negative aspects, there is the good that should be recognized as well.

So carry on, as I know you will through your social media page that guided you here to in the first place. Let that one sink in...