Sophomore Sheila Aguilar can do without a lot, but she can’t put down her cell phone. In an age characterized by technology, Aguilar, like many, has found the readily available Internet and easily accessible social media sites a necessity.

“I use my phone every chance I get,” Aguilar said. “I mostly spend all my time on my phone.”

Texting and surfing the Internet have become commonplace and are some of the driving forces for people wanting to be on their devices full time.

“It’s normal to see people with iPods and Phones, you know?” freshman Vanessa Martinez said. “A lot of people are used to having them. It’s weird seeing people who don’t have them or use them.”

The expansion of people getting hand-held devices has led to technology developers creating things that would make the phone more interesting. An example would be texting.

“I’m always on my phone because texting [is intriguing]. It’s fun to talk to people without really talking,”  Martinez said.  “Also, it’s a faster way of talking to someone who you really need to talk to. It’s better than waiting until school to tell them.”

According to The New York Times, texting has been a huge phenomenon since 2006. An advantage of texting is that “it makes conversations more private,” Aguilar said. “It also helps talking to a certain someone if they live far away.”

Another form of quick communication is Instant Messaging. Instant messaging was popularized through online forums and email providers.

“I think instant messaging is a great thing,” Martinez said. “It allows people to talk to friends from far places who can’t text message. Also emails have been helpful in getting information on things quickly.”

However, students would rather text message each other instead of using email.

“I text interesting people and I have a Twitter account,” Aguilar said. “I always check Twitter because there are new things. Also I like [being on my phone] because of social media and having [online] friends.”

Students have said they would rather spend time on their devices listening to music, playing games or being on a social websites than working on school work.

“My parents get angry about [me using the iPod],” Martinez said, “because I mainly stay inside and don’t go out, which bothers them.”

According to CBSNews, 77 percent of teenagers around the U.S have a portable device.

“Whenever I’m on my phone, Twitter is my main thing, like I like tweeting,” Aguilar said. “If I could, I would be on Twitter all day.”

Aguilar said she enjoys Twitter because “I can keep in touch with entertainment news of my favorite celebrities and talk to them.”

The social websites and apps could easily become an addiction and make someone become attached to the object.

“I’m always with my iPod,” Martinez said. “It lets me get away from school stuff and entertains me way more than school does. If I lost my iPod, I would cry since it’s very important to me.”

But for Aguilar, her attachment to her cell is not as strong. She would just wait for the next upgrade.

“I’d cry [if I lost my phone], but I’d get over it,” Aguilar said. “I’d probably find something else to do until the next big thing happens.”

• Tumblr lauched in 2007 and has over 100 million blogs
• Twitter has 500 million users.
• Facebook has 1 billion users.
• Instagram launched in 2010. It has 90 million users.
• Pinterest launched in 2010. It has 48.7 million users.
• Skype was launched in 2003. It has 50 million users.
• Pandora launched in 2000.  It has 20 million users.
• Youtube launched in 2005.  40 billion videos are streamed a day.
• Netflix was founded in 1997. It has 29.4 million users.
• Spotify was launched in 2008. It has 24 million users.
• Shazam was founded in 1999.  It has 250 million users.
• Vine was launched in 2013. It enables users to create and post short video clips.