A Place to Connect... and Never Disconnect

A common argument for social media usage is that it is a place to connect with old friends, keep up with pop culture, and stay updated on significant aspects of acquaintances and friends lives. Sure, many connections come through social media, but the depth and substance of them is questionable. Do our friends and conversations over social media replace actual friendship and conversation? Do we just "do it for the vine" or the cool picture to post on an artsy account or to snapchat? If we use social media to essentially keep tabs on other people, we are more likely to try and put things out there that would paint ourselves in a more positive light and isn't really us. I deny to myself that I do this, but one truth is that if we have social media and any followers at all, what we post is catered to them in some form. Every form of media and everything that exists on it in order to share part of ourselves, an opinion, or thing in order to connect with others who "like" or want to "follow" it. There is a connection in this, but it is obvious that it is lesser connection than the physical and real connection it is increasingly replacing.  Social Media is painted as a place to connect, to make friendships, but how useful is that if most of what is on there is fabricated, unrealistic, and changes the dynamics of real connection to doing it just to share it?

I'll be honest, I use social media way more than I need to and have time for. Time flies when you're having fun... or scrolling through Instagram. I recognize that I spend too much time on snapchat, Instagram, twitter, buzzfeed quizzes.. whatever it may be. But I'm not stopping my habit. How else would I remember that my friend from that one summer camp three years ago still exists? How else would I let the world know about that time I saw a super cute cat? How else would I talk to my friends? How else would I find out what my spirit food is? Like it or not, social media has become an established part of my life and how I gather information for and share information from my daily life. I have noticed that I "escape" to social media at the same times every day, times I previously spent reading a book or doing homework in. I made the conscious choice to get social media, but I also subconsciously signed a pact that I wouldn't leave. Not only is it hard to delete or deactivate an account, it's hard to fill the space we devote in our lives to social media. It has become a part of how we interact and function. A space created to connect us has become impossible to disconnect from.