Written by: Tyra Mills

If you were to walk into an auditorium filled with college students and ask them to reveal the one thing they had to have at all times, most of them would immediately respond with a simple answer: “my cellphone.”

Today, we college students are more tech savvy than our parents and ancestors could have ever been. Everywhere you go you’ll see someone on their cellphone. At restaurants, we sit with our cellphones in our laps or right beside our butter knives and salad forks.

One of the first things we do in the morning is to check our phones for missed calls, texts or social media notifications. In class, most of our phones are on vibrate and constantly within arm’s reach.

 What reason is there for us to consistently be inseparable from our cellular mechanisms? Are we constantly awaiting an important phone call? Is a loved one sick in the hospital every day of the week? Are we on call for our jobs, or are we waiting for a call back at any time?

 For most of us, the answer to these playful questions is no. We have become one with our cellphones because we are indulged in our social media. It seems that if you don’t have a Twitter, Instagram or Facebook account, you are simply not living life to the fullest.  So I pose this question to readers: Is social media really that serious?

 We are exchanging our physical social interactions for virtual communications and digital praise of our lives’ endeavors. Though America is one of the most technologically advanced countries, I do believe that our online interactions are becoming more of hindrance rather than a help.

 Social media is at its peak right now, and it looks like it may never see a downfall. Every celebrity−from Chief Keef to Michelle Obama−has a social media platform. Is this development just a trend, or will the popularity of social media eventually wane?

 Personally, I wouldn’t mind saying goodbye to my Twitter or Facebook account. They have become, more than anything, a distraction and time waster for me. Instead of tweeting or updating a complacent status, I could be reading a book or doing homework. I could be out enjoying conversation and interactions with other human beings, as our predecessors did.

 Although I do think that social media can be fun and enjoyable, too much of it will cause us to lazily exchange meaningful physical and verbal interaction for Instagram likes, Facebook shares, and Twitter retweets.