You’re not really living unless you have a phone. You didn’t really go somewhere unless Instagram pictures captured it. Your phone eats first, always. 

All of these are common phrases I have heard thrown around the last couple of years, and it got me thinking. Do phones make us more isolated?

I have fallen victim myself to this new technology culture we live in. For example, when it’s time for me to go on vacation, I find myself meticulously sorting through my clothes and spotting the perfect place to take Instagram pictures to make it look like my life is perfect rather than enjoy the vacation itself. 

The Atlantic posted an interesting study in 2017 showing teen depression and other mental health problems skyrocketing since 2011 roughly the same time iPhones became a thing. These two occurrences being correlated is not a coincidence to me. 

As old as I may sound right now, I find myself getting outside less and less while my thumbs keep scrolling through an endless void of Instagram models to compare myself to and people’s lavish vacations I long to be on.

Social media is toxic, and we all know it. 

Sure, social media has brought many jobs to the industry and has spread important information and has given us a space to be creative with how we present ourselves, but there is no doubt a darker side to the screen we carry around in our pockets. 

Being human, we tend to compare ourselves to others, and social media is the perfect ground for these thoughts to take over, seeing that girl with her fake body and wishing it was yours or the fun activities plastered all over someone’s feed even though it was probably staged. These thoughts consume my mind and many others’, and I find it eating away at my mental health one Instagram post at a time. 

We all find ourselves putting on a facade rather than experiencing life raw and making memories that can be ingrained in our brains rather than our camera roll. It seems as though any free chance I get I’m reaching for my phone instinctively rather than asking my mom how her day was or going on a walk with my brother. 

It’s a vicious cycle and makes it easy for teens, myself included to isolate themselves without even realizing it. These companies are making billions of dollars a year profiting from our unhealthy lifestyles, and there needs to be a healthy balance between you and your screen and living life. 

I want to have my life filled with actual memories rather than Snapchat memories, so next time that you look at your phone, I hope this editorial strikes your mind, FHC.