Technology has always been the undoing of man. Aldous Huxley said, “Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.”

It consumes man’s energy, eliminates jobs, and in the process, weakens man’s work ethic. Although advancements continue to litter the technological landscape, none has impacted young people like the development of social media.

Social media has profoundly impacted all aspects of modern life; nowhere more so than social life. It is, after all, called social media.

I used to view Facebook and Twitter as something I did for fun; not much else. Now, it’s not even fun. I view it as something I have to do, almost like a daily homework assignment or checking Blackboard.

It wasn’t always like this. Back in high school (2 years ago), I loved getting on Facebook. It was interesting to see other kids’ profiles, and pictures of what they were doing. You could check the status of the girl you liked to see if she was single or not. Usually, you could also find information about parties. It was a good tool back in the day. But, going forward, it seems rather childish.

Now that I’m in college, I don’t care what other people from my graduating class have done. That’s just me, though.  I think social media has hindered the growth of a lot of college students, in one way or another.

Some people I know constantly check their own, and other people’s Twitter accounts. They can keep in touch with everyone they went to school with and see what everybody’s been up to. The problem? Sometimes, those are the only people they communicate with or know.

What happened to the days where you graduated, and everyone moved on with his or her life? I’m not suggesting social media holds people back from an education or following a career path. But, if you do have a social media account and actively use it, it can make attending San Jac feel like “thirteenth or fourteenth Grade”.

Its impact isn’t limited to San Jac or other community colleges, it has reached universities as well. A lot of my friends went off to universities. I assumed when I went to visit them, they would have met a slew of new people, or made a few new friends. I was wrong.

When I took a trip to San Marcos, I saw a large number of people from my high school had migrated toward each other there. At one apartment complex, eight apartments in a row on the same floor were inhabited by kids I went to high school with; all of whom weren’t good friends in high school, but now all hang out.

Now, I don’t know if social media is to blame for this, but if it isn’t, what is? Was it just a roll of the dice and by chance, they happened to end up living next to each other? Or was it collusion? It begs the question, why go out and meet new people when you are just a click away from someone you already know?

The knowledge of what your high school peers have done is prevalent, but shouldn’t be relevant. Social media can help us stay in touch, help us meet new people, help inform the general public of news, along with many other functions.

In my experience though, I think it makes college, community or university, feel a little too much like high school…Which reminds me, I wonder if Tammy Jacobson is going to read this. I hope she likes it and thinks I’m cool.