Think about the last time you were alone. Alone meaning no T.V., no cell phone, no iPod, no laptop. Alone with only your mind. Do you actually remember what being “alone” really means? People rarely do these days. Connected to our devices 24/7, we might as well be living, breathing robots engaging in artificial conversations. In a sense, we already are. Social media has become too advanced, I think. Too advanced at the point in which Facebook, Twitter, or whatever the hell social media networks there are today, has turned into a virtual friend, a therapist, or sometimes a vacation. I know I’m not the only one who gets annoyed by the depressing-ass statuses, unnecessary selfies, or humble-brag posts that just screams, “Hey look at me! Take a look at my illusioned sense of self that I need to portray for the sake of compensation!” We see you, we see you. We know.

Sometimes I wonder what social media would be like if that damn “Like” button didn’t exist. I think that it was originally meant to acknowledge a witty status or a picture deemed above average or at least humorous. Now it’s considered fuel; fuel for the car of self-worth that which people don’t know when to stop driving. High fuel, it goes faster. Low fuel, it goes slower. Since when do people have the audacity to think that self-worth is quantifiable? To think that I actually know people who delete things because they didn’t get “enough” likes or any at all. This encompasses any and all like-getting schemes. Statuses that range from complete irrelevance to compliment fishing. People actually take the time to go our of their way, and I mean all the way, down the street and around the corner to log on and type their shit, in exchange for a bright notification with a beep sound. Selfies are okay, except when it’s not. I have seen enough selfies to last me the rest of my life, the afterlife, and reincarnation, if that even exists. “Unnecessary” is but one adjective to describe the majority. What mathematician formulated that the greater the likes, the greater the value?

It’s a new day and age for communication. I’ve learned this in class and have applied it in my daily life. I know the procedure. How amazing is it that my friend in China already knows about my marketing campaign from the other side of the world? The power is simply remarkable. Businesses flourish with social media. I’d love to do my research, to be honest. I guess this is the inquisitive and psychological part of me that takes interest. What is it that makes people feel the need to be validated through social media? What is it that they’re compensating for? A lack of self-confidence? A lack of conversation, maybe? For some reason this topic fascinates me. I think my ability to have a third eye and having a view from the outside looking in allows me to put everything into retrospect. I can observe patterns and take things into question. Since I believe that human beings are more alike than different, doing research with this topic can be quite fascinating. However, before any publication of academic journals, I must learn to tolerate such findings.

I’m going to have to live with it, though. Unless I go back to school to become a therapist and talk to every single person I can pinpoint out from my news feed, I have to live with the ugly byproducts. It amazes me sometimes, how I and many other folks in my position can manage to navigate through all this technology. Many of which is quite unnecessary, in my opinion. I’m learning more and more about social media and technology in general and seeing how far we’ve come, we’ve somehow created a lifestyle of living in irony. Technology is supposedly meant to make our lives easier. But sometimes I feel that easier isn’t necessarily better. Granted, there are huge pros to these creations, but cons are not that far behind. If that’s the case than what benefit are we really gaining?

Every year that goes by and every invention that’s produced, there’s going to be less natural ways of doing things. Everything will soon be artificial because no one is engaging in anything real. There’s no organic way of interacting people anymore. People my age are starting relationships on social media with people they’ve never met. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen tables and tables in restaurants be filled with people looking at their phones. Just enjoy your food and update with your company, not with your followers.

I thought social media was for communication, not compensation. I feel like there’s too much seeking of external validation of some sort. Whether it’s attention, recognition, or even love, people are engaging in the lives of others and/or molding their own image. The way technology has advanced, social media and the way we communicate have done the same thing.

I remember I was 12 when I was first allowed a cell phone. A real basic, small flip phone with the game Snake and an antenna installed with it. Now at 22 with an iPhone, looking back a decade later, it’s obvious what progress has been made. Phones, cameras, video cameras, and entire music collections are carried all in one device. Having apps create endless possibilities where anything and everything is accessible at our leisure by the literal touch of our fingertips.

I’m not a hateful person, I promise. I’m a young adult that grew up with two different worlds of technology, seeing opposite sides of the same coin. I’d like to say that I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I think it’s great. In fact, technology is quite amazing. Doctors are performing surgery on their patient from a different country, cochlear implants are ailing the hearing impaired, and movies are being produced more fresh and crisp as ever. People may have different approaches but this is mine. As progressive as we have become, there are moments where things have taken a U-turn that allow us to live as walking contradictions. There are Wii sports games that are supposedly making us be more active. But is it really as active as going outside to actually play those sports? Is social media really allowing better communication or easier? What are we communicating in the first place? Yes, it makes things easier, but does it make it better? Are we really allowing artificial intelligence overrule our own?

Everything is so easily garnered now. There’s no sense of curiosity anymore; no sense of mystery now that Google can provide you with answers in milliseconds. The way we communicate through social media has changed as much as it has progressed. We’ve grown to hate being alone and rely on notifications to keep us company. External validation feeds that hunger, for the time being. The new generation has got it way too easy. I find it sad that children are getting phones before bikes, limiting nothing but their imagination and conversation. I highly doubt that the old classic two cups on a string telephone will survive the new millennium.