Do you have hands to hold, or keys to click? Over the past decade, our dependence on social media has actually decreased our social skills. Social media is glorified for all the neat features that it might offer, but people often do not see the negative affects it has. We often use social media to highlight the important parts of our lives or make it seem we live an idyllic life. While we are so drawn to social media we are missing out on key parts of our lives. Lastly, social media is causing us to decrease our face-to-face social skills. Social media has taken over as the world’s number one communication system. Our dependence on social media to be our communicator needs to be reduced or our humanity is at stake. …show more content…
A study done by Mary Maker reports that we touch our devices at least 150 times a day (Graham, Allison, How social media makes us unsocial). As we are so engaged in our devices and social media, we are often missing out on what is occurring right before our eyes. Over 90% of the human language is based on non-verbal cues such as eye contact, body language, and tone of voice. This means that less than 10% of our communication is based on verbal word (Jones, Haley, Social Media’s Effects on Human Interaction). When we use social media as a way to communicate, we are missing out on the overall feeling of a conversation. We can misinterpret something that might be stated or discussed, because we do not experience the nonverbal parts of …show more content…
Being surrounded by people that are important to us or even meeting new people can provide a feeling of happiness. This feeling of happiness is created by neurotransmitters and hormones such as oxytocin. Oxytocin is a key hormone that is released that makes us feel connected to one another (Graham, Allison, How Social Media Makes Us Unsocial). When we use social media as a major way of communication we are reducing in person social contact. Reducing the amount of face-to-face contact and the amount of hormones released, decreases the likelihood of surviving a long, thriving, and happy life. By using social media as a major component of communication, we are increasing chances of social isolation. If you are socially isolated, your lifespan can be decreased by 30% compared to someone with regular contact (Financial Times, Social Media vs. Social Skills). When we are constantly engaged in social media while “spending time with someone”, we are comparing the individuals and social media, and social media is outweighing the person you are with in