Hunched backs over static screens, nervous fingers, the inability to make decisions and the failure to express emotions. This could be the future of society, if social media users refuse to occasionally disconnect.

Gulf News spoke to readers to find out how they convey Eid greetings now. Most favoured social media channels and phone messaging - a far cry from the practice of actually meeting people.

Asma Abdul Rahman Ali Bahassan, a Dubai-based social media community manager, said: “It’s definitely going to be a scary place. The human touch is lost. If someone has good news or bad, they just update their status and everyone is expected to know. We take communication for granted.”

About 86 per cent of all social media users are teenagers and young adults aged 18-29,according to Mashable statistics. Nearly a third of them even use it in the bathroom.

Worldwide, Facebook users spend 10.5 billion minutes each day surfing the site – collectively; that’s nearly 20 years per day that people spend living online instead of offline.

Ironically the ‘social’ aspect of social media can be misleading.

When signing up for Google+ and setting up your Friends circle, the program specifies that you should include only “your real friends, the ones you feel comfortable sharing private details with”.

This indicates the distinctions social media users have to make online – and often fail to do so, landing them in trouble.

For Aakriti Tripathi, a UAE-based blogger and active social media user, it is not all bad.

She said: “Social media seems to be altering or replacing traditions instead of ending them.”

Bahassan agreed: “Earlier, if you were 15 or 16, it would be very difficult to be heard unless you were part of a popular crowd. Now, everyone can have a say online. But that leads to other issues such as bullying and taunting – which can be really traumatising at that age.”

For Dr Padmaraju Varrey, senior psychiatrist at NMC Speciality Hospital – Abu Dhabi, there are grim repercussions for society.

He said: “Imagine a teenager who does not interact much with family and who is always in his room on Facebook or other networking sites. How would he compare with a counterpart who is physically active, plays team sports, receives constant feedback from friends and family on his behaviour and has a well-rounded personality? The isolating experience of social media can inhibit this basic development.”