There are many positives to social media. Being able to keep in contact with friends, share what we're up to, and stay connected to what's going on in the world (plus, as a blogger-social media is pretty important). But the more we use social media, the more obsessed we get with it, the more I'm beginning to ask myself- 'is social media ruining our lives?' Big statement I know. But think about the last time you got on a train. How many people were plugged into earphones, or looking down at a screen? Imagine if everybody on that train was open to conversation, rather than being transfixed by a screen- you might actually be able to meet new people in the way that our parents and grandparents did before technology came along. You might actually get talking to the boy you keep seeing on your carriage, instead of just tweeting about him.

People are becoming addicted
And that's not an exaggeration. Think about the last time you checked twitter or Facebook. How long ago was it? For me, it was about 15 minutes ago, and that in itself is pretty bad. We need to switch off occasionally before we all go crazy!

You can become anyone
Do you ever compare yourself to an instagram picture? I myself am guilty. In fact, i'd say i get 'instajealousy' on a daily basis. 'Her cheekbones are so good' 'Why am i not that skinny?' 'She's always buying so many nice clothes' cry cry.. but the truth is, you can make your life look anyway you want it on social media, and that's pretty dangerous. Another good example of this is turning up on a date with that REALLY hot guy you got talking to on Tinder, only, erm.. in real life he's not so easy on the eye.

It's easy to become a Twitter stalker..
Lets face it, we've all stalked someone just a little bit on Twitter. Ex-boyfriend? Ex-best friend? We've all been there. And the hard fact is that getting over a relationship ending is made so much harder by social media. You can be out having a good time with your friends, or even moving on, but as soon as THAT snapchat picture pops up on your phone, it's pretty hard to stop thinking about it. Who is that girl?? Is she prettier than me? And bang, you're back to square one. Even when a new guy is on the horizon, its all too easy to check up on his Facebook profile to see who he's friends with, what his family are like and who his past girlfriends are. Luckily, I've always been pretty laid back about that kind of thing, i don't really look too much into things like that but it's incredibly easy habit to slip into if you're not careful.

Bullying has a new home
It was bad enough when i was at school and had a petty argument with one of my friends. It could ruin your day and take up an awful lot of headspace. But i could go home, moan to my mum and then forget about it, whereas nowadays it's so much harder for children to do that. It's so much easier for bullies to sit behind a computer screen saying nasty things via twitter or Facebook, which means that no argument is left in the playground anymore. Children can't escape it, and for me that's one of the saddest things of all.

Innocence is disappearing
I happened to hear a radio discussion the other day about the increasing amount of young teenagers (lets say 10-15 year olds) posting pictures of themselves on social media, only to take them down if they don't get enough 'likes'. I know that when i was 12, i couldn't care less about my looks, whereas now young children are being almost sexualised by social media. It's a horrible thing to say but it's true. I see so many 12-13 year olds that look older than me on instagram, they are so much more concerned with how they look than i did at that age, and that's all down to social media. This for me is pretty scary, as older boys and men could look at those pictures and assume that (girls especially) are older than they are-after all, they don't know them in real life, do they?

Real life is being forgotten
People are spending so much time striking up conversation on social media that they are almost forgetting how to do it in real life. I know so many people that are opinionated and loud via social media but in real life don't even have the courage to say hello. Social media provides a voice for the shyer among us, and i know thats a good thing. But i also think it's taking away people's confidence, and almost making them lazy. It's easy for a boy 'slide into your DM's' and ask you out... but how many would have the confidence to do that in real life?

We're forgetting to enjoy The Now
How many times have you gone out and taken loads of pictures of what you've been up to? I know i do it all the time. When i go out for a meal, i always take pictures of the food ready for the world of instagram to see. When you go for a nice day out-the first thing you want to do is tell your followers about it. But have you ever stopped to think that you're so busy enjoying your day on social media, your not actually enjoying it in real life?

I'm not disputing that social media has a ton of benefits, and i'm ashamed to say that I would probably struggle without it. But the past few months has shown me that it can also be a bit of a burden on our lives. So the next time i go on a train, i'm going to leave my phone in my bag and look up instead of down- and who knows, I might encounter something that i missed last time.