Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. FourSquare. WordPress. Google+. I’m sure I’m forgetting some. So where does it end? Add that to texting, phone calls and all of the apps on our phones, and we are always connected.

With the rise of technology, the world was excited for the advancements to come. It seemed as though each day had new developments to embrace and learn about. But now, is it all too much? How many times a day are we interrupted by notifications on our phones or computers, telling us what is going on in everybody’s lives?

Disconnecting may be the best thing for us at times. Have you ever wanted to just turn CUMail off so that you can ignore all of the things you have to do? Or not read your text messages because there is probably one reminding you of a meeting to attend? Sorry friends who text and email me, don’t take this personally (because I’m sure you do it too!).

I won’t lie. I have an iPhone 4S. I occasionally ask Siri stupid questions that I am perfectly capable of figuring out on my own. I admit that I would freak out if suddenly I didn’t have access to my calendar on my phone. And if someone changed my Twitter or Facebook password, not only would I fail my journalism classes in which we have to tweet (#jmcawesome), I may have a bit of a heart attack.

Yet what gives me more of a heart attack is the thought that someday I’m going to wish that I had paid more attention to the personal connections and relationships that are all around me. I’ll wish that I would have put my phone away during that conversation with a friend instead of responding to another friend’s text.

Or even worse, that these devices can cause major emergencies. It terrifies me that we are so addicted to our devices that we can’t put them down, even to drive.

There’s also the issue of text-walking, which bothers me. People will be walking down the mall, looking straight down into their phones with little to no regard as to whom they are walking in to or what steps lay ahead. While I am totally guilty of this too, I think its sad that we are beginning to look like Apple robots, making our way around campus without even stopping to say hello to friends walking by.

But what I’m saying is that there is so much in which to participate in the world around us and if we have our noses buried in the screens, we are missing out.

Rest assured, Twitter will still be chirping and Facebook will still be red flagging notifications even if we leave our iPhones alone for an hour or two. All of our apps will still be on the home screen, and the games

will go on.

And as for me, I wasn’t going to win that Words With Friends game anyways, so all I’m missing out on is embarrassment.