In today's society, not only are we obsessed with technology, but we depend on it and rely on it daily. Is our society too dependent on technology? In recent years, a phenomenon called social networking has really taken off. Although there are many social networking sites, Facebook is by far the largest and most popular. Facebook has over 1 billion active users and the average user has 130 friends (“Statistics”). Have Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites gotten out of control? Although some people may believe that social media has positive effects on humans, it has actually negatively changed the way we communicate, our identity and even our health. Communication is a complex process that involves seven elements: sender, encoding, message, decoding, receiver, noise and feedback (Guerva). All of these elements are essential to communication. Social media sites, Facebook in particular, have removed one of the most important components, comments (Guerva). Social media is very similar to texting or writing a letter; the sender is unable to express the main types of comments. You can no longer express your mood through the tone of your voice, the time it takes you to respond, and even the facial reactions required. Without these key forms of feedback, the recipient can, and often will, interpret the message differently (Guerva). For example, imagine a picture telling a good friend that you have been diagnosed with cancer. If you told them in person and directly, they could see your sincerity and sadness; However, if you posted it on their wall, they would probably think you were just joking about it. By using a social networking site to share this news, you have completely changed the component...... middle of paper ......ral Communications. " University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa. October 2010. Conference. Hollady, Jennifer. “Cyberbullying”. Education Digest 76.5 (2011): 4-9. EBSCO Web, April 13, 2011. » Leave “Friendprints” : how online social networks are redefining privacy and personal security. Knowledge@Wharton. Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, June 10, 2009. Web. April 13, 2011. Mackey, Robert. “Is social media killing you?” New York Times. New York Times, February 24, 2009. Web, April 13, 2011. Richtel, Matt. “Underage Facebook users raise concerns.” New York Times, March 11, 2011. Web, April 13, 2011. “Statistics.” Facebook, 2011. Web. April 13, 2011. Wintour, Patrick. “Facebook and Bebo risk infantilizing the human mind. » Guardian News and Media Limited, February 24, 2009. Web.. 2011.