Social media has become a constant in modern day society. In a room filled with people who are all together, we all have a thousand miles in between. Media today has connected us to a new world that revolves around ourselves. We are all surrounded by our own bubble; this bubble’s name is egotism. All of us who are constantly trying to find more people to “follow,” so an irrelevant number on some app can be larger than those of their peers. In the past, society functioned without technology’s restrains. The average person was required to make conversation and interact with one another. Now when placed around new people, instead of forming conversation, we turn to our phone in fear of interaction.

These new social advances are being proven as harmful to adolescents today. Problems such as cyber-bullying, depression, and social network induced obesity are becoming common. People cease to realize the power of words, whether it be online or in person.

Mrs. Ward sees that, “teenagers don’t seem to understand that there is an actual human being behind the words they put online. Since they don’t have to look the person in the eye, the insults they put out there are seemingly without consequence.”

This makes more people vulnerable to being bullied on the web. Depression and obesity can be caused by cyber-bullying. For example, a young teenage girl may be scrolling through Instagram and over time, she starts degrading herself and thinking lowly of herself because she does not live up to beauty standards seen on media. This could cause depression for this young girl. Scroll after scroll, tear after tear, self confidence levels start to plummet. Mrs. Ward finds that “many teens put a lot of unspoken pressure on themselves to gain as many followers, likes, and retweets as possible; it’s so sad that many people define part of their self-worth off of such things.” This also contributes to depression that could be hypothetically inflicted on the young girl. In Mrs.Ward’s chemistry classes, students are required to store their phone is a cubby away from their learning environment. When phones are set aside she witnesses students who “can’t go more than a class period without feeling the need to check their social media notifications”.

Ironically, these new apps are supposed to help people to connect whereas, slowly, it’s pulling us apart. When children come together to play, it’s no longer on the playground outside, but inside on a screen. As people become more dependent on technology, we slowly detach ourselves from being human. Common social skills are becoming scarce among the next generation. Today’s society needs to unplug from electronics and focus on ourselves to develop humanity.