Maddox

1

Chris Maddox

Mrs. Watkins

English TR 10:30

11/9/2016

Prisoners of Our Own Device

Albert Einstein once said I fear the day that technology will surpass our human

interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots. In a world that cant look up from their

cell phones, people miss out on lifes roller coaster journeys. Cell phones in todays society

causes people to waste their time, miss out on memorable moments and take away face-to-

face relationships between one another.

A sight that people often see when walking down the street is someone walking down

the street and almost running into a poll or another person, because they are glued to their cell

phones. Teens in the United States check their social media accounts a stunning seventeen

times a day, therefore they check their phone once or more times, a waking hour (Lula Chang).

Kids today spend too much time on their phones looking at all the social media accounts

theyve created, which typically have the same post as one another. The only differences are

the name of the websites and the formatting. People in todays world feel the need to always be

informed on the latest news because people do not want to be left out on the new trends. The

most popular social media sites consist of Facebook at number one, followed by YouTube,

Instagram, and Twitter according to liis Hainla at dreamgrow.com. Facebook leads all other

social media because of how many people use the site and because Facebook was created first.

Each social media website attracts different group of people. The unique thing about
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technology is that social media and the different companies that run them can attract all

different variations of people to use their websites. Facebook tends to have more use for grown

ups and college kids, Twitter attracts the vast majority of kids and because of the youth, the

adults begin creating accounts to watch their kids through twitter. YouTube ranks at number

two for most popular because it allows people to watch what they what, when they want,

unlike TV. The use and over use of social media enables people to act and say certain things,

that normally they wouldnt say. Websites like Facebook and Twitter give voices to people who

dont have one or are too afraid to voice their opinion. Bad situations that arise when new

people feel the need to give their opinions and social media accounts allows those people to

hide behind a computer screen. Therefore, users can say what they want to say, without any

type of consequences for their actions. Popular social media accounts each day waste peoples

time and continually creates new opportunities for people to act inappropriately on the

internet.

Cell phones use often causes people to miss out on the beautiful moments that life has

to offer. People, because of mobile phones and social media, have neglected the relationships

between family and friends (Alena Hall). Social media has created a culture that people need to

promote and elevate themselves through the internet. While people continuously do so online,

they frequently have trollers who try and ostracize a person for their self promoting and

opinions. This is when family and friends are important and are a source of support for your

opinion. The culture in America has also taught people, usually kids, to impress others and

show how amazing their life is. Therefore, while families travel and go on vacations, people

continuously post pictures and update others on how their vacations is going (Alena Hall). This
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idea of impressing people through the place you have been or are at, causes people to be on

their social media accounts and not enjoy the place you are in. Lifes greatest moments are not

in the amount of likes someone gets on Facebook or Twitter, but in the relationships people

create and the breath taking moments it provides.

Social media can also prevent people from going out and making memories. People who

check their social media accounts multiple times an hour do so because they want to be

connected and see what other people are doing. This can leave them wondering why they cant

live a life like someone else. Social networks cause people to feel like they are being left out of

seeing the beautiful places that the world has to offer. It makes people feel like the grass is

greener on the other side of the fence, but If the grass looks greener on the other side of the

fence, its time to water your own lawn (Craig Groeschel). Social media constantly wants

people to check there sites to see what people are doing, but it does not provide any type of

comfort or satisfaction. The over use of social media holds people back from enjoying their life.

Since social media was first created, face-to-face interactions between one another

have gone down dramatically. In todays world so many people go out with people only to be

distracted and consumed by their phones (Sara Altschule). Social media has allowed people to

interact with each other in a way that the world has never seen before. Although people are

able to communicate online, it hurts the connections we have with people we are with and it

doesnt allow us to have the same type of connection that face-to-face interactions provide.

People are now living a life clued to their phones when at the end of your life. It wont be about

the likes you got but by the love you showed (Craig Groeschel). Sadly, the culture today has

managed to make people believe the opposite is true and spend more time trying to get
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approval online then going out into the world and making a difference. This has lead to the lack

of people being able to communicate face-to-face and has made it difficult for people to build

intimate relationships with one another. Culture also tells people to impress others with your

strengths and promote yourself as an amazing person and people will like you. Although when

it comes to real world with one another we might impress people with our strengths, but we

connect with people through our weaknesses (Craig Groeschel). So many people are looking

for a real relationship with someone but are being fooled by social media because it constantly

tells people that they will find and have close relationships the more you use their websites.

The constant use of social media and the false promises they provide has lead to the lack of

face-to-face interactions and relationships.

The use of social media has its benefits for people but the amount of damage it causes is

far greater than the benefits. It leads people to feel that their lives are not as satisfying as

others. Social media has caused people to waste their time, miss out on moments that people

will never forget, and has interfered with the face-to-face relationships between one another.

Society needs to look at each other and start questioning if using social media does more harm

than people realize.

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Work Cited


Chang, Lula. "Americans Spend an Alarming Amount of Time Checking Social Media on Their
Phones." Digital Trends. N.p., 13 June 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

Dansky, Jordan. "The Struggle to Stay Authentic On Social Media." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

Elgan, Mike. "Social Media Addiction Is a Bigger Problem than You Think." Computerworld.
Computerworld, 14 Dec. 2015. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

Greenberg, Barbara. "8 Problems with Teens and Social Media." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 June 203. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

Hall, Alena. "18 Things You Miss By Constantly Staring At Your Smartphone." The Huffington
Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 May 2014. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

Hainla, Liis. "Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites (and 10 Apps!)." DreamGrow RSS.
N.p., 06 Nov. 2016. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

#struggles: Part 1 Contentment with Craig Groeschel LifeChurch.tv YouTube, uploaded
by Life.Church, 8 September 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8K54j3BfAQ

#struggles: Part 2 Relationships with Craig Groeschel LifeChurch.tv YouTube, uploaded
by Life.Church, 15 September 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1eFlF0rwbY