Social media; technology which allows the sharing of information, ideas and expression via online networks and communities. It gives us the opportunity to chat online to people whenever and wherever you are, meet new people across the globe and share pictures with our friends at any given moment. The original idea sounds genius, but when you dig deeper, there’s a whole list of faults that it comes with. The list of different platforms is increasing at a rapid pace, with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter being just a few of the most popular sites used. The click of a button and you can share anything about your life online. And once it’s online, it’s online forever.

It tends to be the younger generations that are associated with social media as they’re more prone to using the sites because they’ve been brought up in a technological society. Strictly speaking, this is not entirely true. Social networking sites are becoming more and more popular with the older generations, particularly Facebook. As of 2017, a whopping 84% of UK adults were on Facebook, which just goes to show that not only are young people the only group to be drawn into the craze.

It truly is quite concerning how obsessed we have become with social media. It seems people are concerned there’s something wrong with how they look if they don’t receive a certain number of likes on their selfie; it seems we cannot go on a night out without having our phones out taking pictures and recording each other, some of which the content may be highly embarrassing for individuals to look back on the following day. We are letting social media control us, to the extent that people are addicted. People cannot do anything but sit on their phone. Even the simplest of activity, such as going for a walk, has become difficult because they’ll still be on their phone whilst out. We need to take a step back and realise that we are ruining our lives. We may be posting pictures on Instagram from that night out, looking like we’re having the time of our life, but we aren’t really living because our phones are there, once again. We don’t even realise it half the time either which is the sad reality.

I applaud those who created such a wonderful network because it gives us the chance to speak to people far and beyond us. It is amazing. But, also mind destroying. It can play a negative impact on our mental health. It seems that we enjoy sitting talking to people online via a screen rather than appreciate the people who we are sitting surrounded by. This can see us isolating ourselves from our nearest and dearest. People spend hours upon hours locked away in their room texting or messaging their friends, whilst their family or friends are sat downstairs socialising. I fear for the youngest generations, because they’re so obsessed with social media that they may not be developing the same social skills as someone who is 20 years mature of them as they aren’t going out quite the same. They aren’t engaging in human contact. 

Not only does it affect social communication skills, but also grammar can become an issue. "Text language" is a vile form of communication which I hate. Not to mention the abbreviations. "Wuu2" = What are you up to. Seriously? I don't understand how it's so difficult for people to sit and type out a phrase rather than try and shorten it. 

A short story which comes to mind whilst writing this post is “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury. I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite piece of written work ever, however, I’m giving it a mention because it has a very significant and important message throughout it. Published in 1951, the science fiction text is based in the future, whereby Bradbury gave us his expectations of the future with technology. It’s a very accurate text, as Bradbury believed that in the future, people would be sat inside watching TV and let the technology take over them. Recommend the text purely so you can see the accuracy.

Personally, I know that I spend a lot of time on social media. I admit it. I’ve grown up in a time where social media has really taken off and it's the “in thing”. All my friends are on it so I have the ability to contact them whenever, and I rely on it heavily for promoting my blogs. I think that one thing we all need to start doing is taking a digital detox. Even if it means switching your phone off for an hour and spending time with loved ones. It seems as though it’s a battle between social media and living. Don’t let social media ruin your life.