The blue bar flashed across the screen. A favorite. Not as satisfying as a retweet, but I'll take it. Within this screen lies my unspeakable excitement in life. Well maybe that's a little exaggerated, but not too distant from the truth. I seem to click that blue and white little bird every five minutes at least. It connects the world, especially my generation, but not just separated friends. People I see every day, but never talk to in person, tweet me and we share an electronic laugh. Haha. Lol. The thrill continues. The notifications keep flooding in. I feel accomplished, accepted, popular. The next day at school, I muster up the courage to say "Hi" to one of my followers, but the words dissipate into the space above my head. I reach for my phone at 3:04 to tweet the latest snippet of teen angst. Five favorites and two retweets in ten seconds. Impressive.     I have a dependency on Twitter. It's my lifeline to recognition, but a pesky question in the back of my mind is on repeat. "Why don't you just have a real conversation?"...I know why... The awkard pain of speaking in person is too much to bare. What if they don't think I'm funny or cool or interesting? The fear is overpowering. I open the app again. Four more favorites. They like me. Why would I sacrifice my newly found popularity, face saving at that, for a person-to-person interaction? It's easier to talk to my "friends" with 140 characters or less. A blue number illuminates my screen. One direct message. Wait...WHO?! He would NEVER talk to me in person. He doesn't even know me. We're in opposite activites, different grades, separate groups. He only likes me for my tweets, but could there be something down the road? Nah. But I can't help but feel a twang of anxiety and excitement every time I open the Twitter app. No messages. He did favorite a tweet once, but none after.      There is no real connection. The dependency is now an addiction, not just for me, but for a generation. We can't communicate our thoughts or emotions without a four inch screen glued to our hand and latched to our eyes. The problem isn't just a fad that will end in two years. It is deteriorating a society. Adults, even, are unable to talk to one other, engage in a simple conversation, without the ever growing, widespread use of technology. It is no longer necessary to converse. In fact, it's inefficient and time consuming to have a personal interaction. Our society has transformed into an electronic world, robotic almost.    This Twitter addiction has created a generation of cowards too. We have mastered the use of technology and abuse of social media. We dish it out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but we can't communicate the same hostility in person, because it's safer to bash without actually showing your face.      Individual identity is suppressed by the socially publicized call to conform to shorthand texts and tweets and the complaining of "first world probz" among many. Very few tweeters actually communicate real opinions and ideas that they feel is beneficial and important for the public to hear. Tweets aren't used for expression, but for acceptance. The facade of our Twitter names create a false image of individuals and reality in general. Forever LOLing behind cracked screens.