The Social Media Trap By Hank Silverberg You may have connected to this blog through Twitter or Facebook. Maybe you also have an Instagram account or Linked In. Social media has become part of everyday life for millions of Americans. Many of us look at it first thing in the morning or the last thing at night before going to sleep. But as Admiral Ackbar said in Return of the Jedi —"IT’S A TRAP”! I could quote studies from sociologists about Internet addiction or recount stories of people whose lives and careers were ruined by something they posted on social media, but I would rather look at the big picture—what it is doing to the way we communicate both personally and professionally, and how that is damaging social discourse. Twitter and Facebook began as wonderful social tools. I set up my Facebook page more than ten years ago when my children were in college. It was a way of keeping in touch with what they were doing in school and for them to follow wh