When Did We Become Prisoners to Our Smartphones?

The video above highlights a major problem in our society today, the addiction to our smartphones and social media. Today almost everyone has a smartphone, even people who cannot really afford to pay for one. When did the world become this way? Perhaps it became this way when the use of social media became popular.

Social media is a way to help people stay connected with one another, except our society is overusing it. According to writer Saima Salim, internet users are now spending an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes per day on social networking and messaging platforms.  I know some people who spend more than that a day on their phone. There are many problems with this overuse, one of them being that people could accomplish so much more in their day if they did not have the distraction of their cellphone. I know college students who complain about how much work they have to do but then sit on their phone for hours instead of completing assignments. Another problem is that our phones hinder connecting with others on a personal level. When a group of friends go out to dinner or hangout you often see them on their phones the entire time instead of talking with one another. This does not allow you to actually get to know them on a deeper level, you only know them based on how they make themselves appear through a screen. Another issue is that one can miss out on their own lives. People are so focused on capturing every moment that they see their lives through a screen, they are not truly living in the moment. 

There is a possibility that if people did not only highlight the best moments in their life and put on an act for the internet that social media may not be as bad. However, our society has made it hard for one to just be themselves without someone judging them. People make judgments on other peoples quality of life based on what they decide to share. Social media has caused so many people to compare their lives to others that no one can truly be happy anymore because there is always a chance to compare your life to others. Based on how people present their life it can look better than it really is. 

Our addiction to our smartphones and social media is destroying us. I agree that social media has some positive aspects, such as sharing important news or influencing others in a helpful way but I believe that the negatives outweigh the positives in this situation. A good majority of our society recognizes this problem yet we all still participate in it.