Social media is an epidemic, spreading globally, consuming all in its wake. This beast that has spawned is a travesty among real social situations people created many generations before. Shaping and bending that is which the foundation to this generation. Social media is shaping our generation by consuming our lives, causing outs mistakes, and destroying social boundaries.

Social media is shaping this generation by consuming our lives. An average person from the age of 8-18 spends 7 hours 38 minutes on entertainment media on the computer each day. Because of media multitasking, they get in an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes a day. Not only kids, but adults do this too. Today people have too much at their disposal. The Internet is FILLED with everything anyone could ever imagine. The Internet is filled with a lot of information, and we can learn lots from it; although, too much can really hurt. Why would anyone want to leave? Today people are always connected. You can always be with someone because of technology today, so why give it up? People’s lives are wasting away as they sit in front of a screen, being always connected. Social media has brought a bountiful supply of friends and connections. We will always have someone to talk to because of the internet, never bringing on the cold, hard grip of loneliness. Before cell phones, people had to get up and walk, or bike, or ride a car, somewhere to talk to someone. Now anyone can be lounging on a couch always connected with our friends.

Social medial is shaping this generation by causing mistakes. Social media gets rid of many possible mistakes someone can make in a social setting. It makes everything easier. There are many excuses and other things that get rid of learning mistakes people get from messing up in a true social setting. Humans learn by mistakes, but if we have ways to prevent our mistakes, how will we learn? Because we do not have such social mistakes, we will not learn as well. Sometimes this will follow into adulthood, where everyone is expected to already have gone through them, but they won’t know how to cope with certain social situations because of their past. These learning periods of our lives are slowly being taken away because of social media.

Social media is shaping this generation by destroying social boundaries. Social boundaries dictate what is acceptable in a normal social situation. With strong ones, comes the learning of what is truly acceptable to say, and when. People learn how to truly have a conversation with social boundaries. Social media takes that aspect away, turning people into mindless zombies, who don’t know how to truly have a conversation. Social media plays it off and gives people the idea anything you want to say is acceptable. There are virtually no consequences to anything you want to say. We have no way to prevent someone from saying what they want to say; without boundaries, people will grow up not knowing what’s okay and what isn’t. With social media deleting boundaries, people get the idea that you can say whatever you want, whenever you want, and not face the consequences. Without face to face interaction, it becomes much easier to say anything you want, and makes it easier to cope with rejection of anything. Thus destroying any coping skills people may develop from being in true interaction. Without these important social boundaries, it makes life and all its interactions much easier. It also makes lessons people get from being in those true social situations fade away, making anything social harder in the future.

Social media is shaping this generation; molding it into something undesirable. This affliction is consuming all in its wake, infecting all in its path. This virulent plague has no cure.