They call it social networking, but the social aspect has been all but annihilated. Social media has collapsed into a void, parasitically leeching time and energy from millions of people across the planet.

It’s a mechanism of division; never have humans been less physically social organisms in our 200,000 years. The digital generation has become shameful in its anonymity, shallow and bereft of authenticity, and with the increasing popularity of online interaction, the horizon is dismal.

If this is the new way of the world, who in their wits would wish to remain—where only trivial, estranged relationships are maintained between fabricated façades, conjuring, through visual manipulation, illusions of better lives, seeking superficial validation from uncountable strangers, drowning in incessant, overwhelming waves of irrelevant information?

This new paradigm has given birth to a sort of black hole, into which the bovine masses pour their vanity and insecurity, and what is regurgitated back are visions of their lives washed in false glamour, which is undeniably alluring as it provides artificial gratification to those whose shallow existences are devoid of any genuine fulfillment.

In the words of the great Indian liberator, “we must become the change we want to see in the world,” so this is a call to arms against an insidious threat to social advancement.

In 2013, I chose reality over a deceptive, societal carcinogen, resigning from every social network in which I’d mistakenly involved myself, and I can sincerely testify to a richer life, marking decreases in anxiety, obsession and feelings of inadequacy.

To those among you who spend more than a few moments a day peering into this experiential vacuum, I beg that you turn away long enough to perceive reality through unclouded eyes, and ask yourself if what is reflected in this unholy online mirror is consistent.

If any reader is upset by these accusations and wishes to honestly assert the contrary, I challenge you to abstain from checking any posts, comments, notifications, likes, dislikes, tags, or any other digital updates that cause no real impact on your life or relationships; if, after only a day or so, you feel the oppressive compulsion to resume monitoring the lives of your acquaintances like the principal investigator of a case study, then perhaps it’s time to admit that social media has become a disruptive dependence.

If you’ve ever observed social networking to have negatively affected your relationships, interrupted your day-to-day obligations or contributed to any psychological impairment, yet a potent desire to engage in online interaction persists, recognize that it has become a categorical addiction.

To those of you willful enough to escape the siren’s song of social media, may you and those close to you meet in the world soon and share in a genuine moment, reclaiming your right to meaningfully experience materiality. Keep the conversation going on my mandatory Twitter account.