In 2001, when an American was asked how many close friends he/she had, the answer might be 10 or more, but when the same question is asked today, the answer probably only 2. Where do they go. Surfing on the internet is the most suitable answer.
Allison Graham, who presented the topic How Social Media Makes Us Unsocial, offered a hilarious illustration regarding basic human needs today. She illustrated that people need one per cent of food, four per cent of water, five per cent of air, and ninety per cent of internet in order to highlight that internet is addictive, especially social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Social media influences people ways of life. For instance, there are some popular vocabularies used by teens and even by the elderly in texting, such as OMG, WTF, LOL. By using those abbreviations, they unconsciously lose the nuance of the words to be fully communicative and interactive. Texting while driving is also considered as one of the effects of social media addiction. It is underlined as the number one factor of death of teens all over the world. Social media tends to make others faking their lives, as well. They upload perfect family photograph, bathroom mirror selfie, driving selfie, and even funeral selfie, simply to gain numerous "Likes" on Instagram or Facebook, since the number of "Likes" somehow equal to self-esteem.
How to deal with this situation depends on our enthusiasm in making such change. We can use social media to create positive face-to-face activity, not by being a "hashtag" activist, but a humanist who grows human connection. We can make the world a better place by holding each other hands rather than kissing on "click" and by teaching our kids how life looks like before living in front of the screen. As a well-known quote by Mahatma Gandhi states "be the change you want to see in the world."
