Technology is a big part of our generation today. On average research has shown, Americans check their phones every 12 minutes. With the technology we have today, we are connected with other parts of the world through the internet, specifically social media. Instagram has 500 million daily users, while Snapchat has 188 million daily users using their app. Numerous teenagers and adults use these apps everyday to communicate with others. One study says that the average American receives 63.5 notifications per day. Although Americans speak to people everyday through technology, they are oftentimes lonely.

Everyday, technology is evolving and becoming more advanced due to all of the resources technicians have to invent new things. This could result in not being present and not living in the moment. Everyone always has some sort of technology on them whether it is a phone or laptop, they easily distract you from what is going on in the real world. According to the New York Post, “4 hours is the longest the average person is prepared to go before the need to check their phones becomes too much.”Technology can make many people  feel anxious at times. Phones can allow society to avoid things like people you don’t want to speak to, or allows you to avoid our negative feelings and place those thoughts in the back of your mind. In some ways, technology can be some sort of escape for people. Although millions of people are texting and calling each other all over the world, at the end of the day, they’re alone resulting in the lonely feeling humans commonly experience.

It is getting hard for our society to do anything without their phones because it is a huge part of people’s lives. We pay our bills and manage our bank accounts on our phones, and we are constantly checking our phone for messages and other important notifications. You might write down your plans for the day in the calendar app, or write down your homework in your reminders app. As many can tell, we can’t really live without our phones. Because phones are a huge part of our lives, it can oftentimes make us feel lonely even though we are connected with the world. Because society uses and relies on technology so much, our devices can even lead some people into mental illnesses like depression. The main cause of depression is social media because it alters our perception of reality. Many feel obligated to try and look like the “standard” way people should look on social media apps like Instagram or Snapchat.

Since technology is very popular and commonly used today, it can oftentimes make society feel alone or self conscious. Social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat give us this “image” on beauty and on how people should look. This can cause self-confidence issues leading to depression. Our phones can make us miss important moments because we are so busy paying attention to what someone is having for dinner or what someone is wearing that day. I believe people should use their phones less often and just live in the moment. At the end of the day, that one Instagram post won’t matter.