Every day you are surrounded by technology, whether intentionally, or not. Nowadays people are so unaware of their incessant technology use, that they are unaware of how it affects them.

Living in such a modernized world, we cannot help to stray away from this aspect of life.

I too have developed an unhealthy addiction to technology. Waking up immediately checking my notifications, before even saying “good morning” to my family.

The use of technology in our everyday life has increased excessively; when needing to look up a word, instinctively you will Google it rather than look it up in a dictionary.

People who lack social skills tend to refer to social media to communicate with others. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr, are a few of these sites. Communicating with people face-to-face is an important part of life and can teach a person several lessons. One being, social cues and basic etiquette.

Social cues are messages people convey without having to verbalize that message, and instead through body language.

Etiquette is an appropriate way to speak to others. It is basic standards and behavior people should follow when speaking to others. This is important for future employment or meeting new people. According to Stage of life, 91 percent of teens say that manners matter and 70 percent teens feel society as a whole displays more bad manners.

It is understood that communicating online is much easier than conversing in public. However, success in life requires suitable social skills. But with the overuse of social media, people can lose their basic communication skills. Social media is preventing people from being around one another.

People would rather read what someone is saying than hear the same statement in person. People nowadays find it easier to text someone when they see them, rather than say “hello” in person. According to Shelly Mejia, the average American spends 23 hours per a week online texting, that is one hour away from being a day full of texting online.

Social media lacks the one on one contact, it is easier to type to someone without having to see them. Making it harder for people to address one another in person.

Technology is useful but should be limited. Every day you should initiate a conversation with someone in person, not online. Imperative conversations are being retracted by emails or texts. Get involved and know what is going on around you. By reducing your time online you could do more important things; making new friends, visiting new places, and or learning something.

I plan to change my habits as well, and be more involved in reality than technology. I want to be more connected to people in person than online.

Therefore, step away from your laptop or phone, and talk to someone. See what a world of difference it can make by making such a small change.