One of my biggest fears is being a parent to a daughter who’s consumed with social media. I hope years down the road when I’m a parent and my daughter comes to me crying, I don’t have to explain to her she’s worth more than how many likes she gets on an Instagram picture, or retweets she gets on Twitter.

It’s crazy to think that the world has come to that.

So much emphasis is put into the popularity contests that form within social media. Yes, it is a great tool for communication, but who uses it solely for that reason, besides maybe grandparents?

Everything todays is determined by likes and retweets and the number of followers someone has, which I think is ridiculous. The purpose of any social media site is to connect with people, not to compete in a popularity contest. It should be perfectly acceptable to post a status and not have to worry about whether or not people like it. A picture is already worth a thousand words, so what will 20 more likes do?

If people were more concerned with the content posted rather than the desirability of the status, then social media could be more useful than ever. It could be used for valuable communication and entertainment, not boredom and reward-seeking.

Relationships have ended because of fights over social media. Face-to-face conversations have been silenced because of a pre-occupation with social media. And self-esteems have been affected because of social media.

We have an amazing tool in our hands, and the possibilities are endless. We just have to use it correctly.