In a 2015 commencement speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, journalist Katie Couric offered graduates the following advice on our obsessions with "constant connectivity":

Do not be seduced by the false intimacy of social media. Comfort and support can be found in online communities, but they cannot replace the humanity of real ones … I used to tell graduates that no one on their deathbed ever said, "Gee, I wish I had spent more time at the office." The 2015 version of that should be, "No one on their deathbed ever said, 'Gee, I wish I had spent more time on my iPhone.'"

We spend so much time these days … looking for external validation—with our carefully crafted Instagrams, clever postings, perfect pictures, counting our likes, favorites, followers and friends—that it's easy to avoid the big questions: Who am I? Am I doing the right thing? Am I the kind of person I want to be?—the kind of honest self-examination that truly fuels personal growth.