Social media is a plague on humanity, infecting millions with arrogance and narcissism.

At least that’s what I’ve heard from people who typically try to avoid using social media and only really see it being used by youth to take pictures of just about anything and everything. From their favorite outfit to a slightly pricey, but trendy meal, social media clout means currency—sometimes literally, but I digress.

I’m not trying to force you to like or follow social media’s influence, but it really isn’t all that bad. It provides a place for people to connect, encourages positivity and goes far beyond simply bragging about numbers.

First of all, I would like to remind everyone that literally half of the phrase “social media” refers to a communal interaction between people. Despite claims of our society being less connected than ever, you really can’t be part of a social network without being social. Even for those who claim to be anti-social people, there’s always someone to communicate with through the many networks available.

There’s always someone trying to reach you. There’s always someone trying to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Birthday.” And there’s always that one person you just met who already wants to know more about you without actually talking to you, which is perfectly alright. Face-to-face interactions aren’t for everyone.

At the end of it all, we’re definitely not calling as much as we used to, but we never really stopped chatting. Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat have private messaging available. Facebook, one of the original social networks, even developed its own instant messaging app for users to log into and use as their primary texting app. Family and friends are clicks and taps away from video chatting, sharing photos and hours of conversation with little to no expense.

Along with this, social media users have a greater access to a place of understanding. Online friends aren’t uncommon and it’s easy to join groups to meet others with common interests. On Instagram, people can find an unspoken form of unity in the various communities to be found on the app.

A few examples of these groups include the art community, make-up community, cosplay community and ASMR community. On Facebook, mothers can be found in groups talking about their children, struggles and recipes or craft projects. People like meeting people they can relate to and chat with.

Now, in a lot of these communities, you will find trolls and haters. This is a massive reason for why people might want to avoid using such networks—the risk of getting hurt. However, I would like to say that in anything you do, you can and will encounter such people in the real world.

Those comments have to come from somewhere, of course. Unlike the real world, though, you can easily block and report users, and find a lot of people instantly ready to back you up. Aesthetic outfits are fawned over and developing artists get praise for their progress. It’s a world of cheering others and getting cheered on.

Taking selfies and making posts is the new means of preserving memories. Let’s face it, when the people of Generation Z are old and sitting in hoverchairs, even these bits of data will fade into antiquity.

It’s not always a show of looking good and showing off. A lot of times, it’s just having fun and showing the world what’s making you smile today.

So with society rapidly moving away from simply using the Internet and its networks to search for whatever they want to looking for real human connections, I recommend at least trying to catch the wave before you end up being the last guy on the beach.