A long time ago, social media made a promise to change the world. And it has. For the better. It brought young, hopeful energy to the hands of many, beating the odds, as it fell in love with the analog world. This relationship can be everlasting, but every relationship has its challenges.

Social media has become the primary way to experience, learn, and communicate — all while isolating people from the world around them, where everything that once mattered, has now become the background to the forefront of the pixel-perfect screens we attend to, hours on end. It’s tasteless, and, dare I say, not really social. In a world fueled by these online mediums, we have to discover a way to bridge the gap between social media and the real world. And if the young love between the two never connect, we will continue to watch a dysfunctional relationship dive deeper into its own destruction. But this can change. And it will. But how?

Take a look at social media today — the dynamic, creative, and digital world has leaped farther than it ever could have without it. And while social media has a place, it doesn’t really know its place. Because it’s always changing — afraid of commitment. Over the last decade, thousands of startups have paved the way for a stronger, deeper engagement via social media, only to create new opportunities for digital addiction across the world. From internet memes to status updates, no social media has risen above the rest with the organic intent to negate this addiction. It would be a healthy assumption that a seamless integration between these online mediums and the adventurous lives people live, would drive people into doing more in the real world, through the digital world. Romantically intertwined, it would be a magical place. Often enough, it’s forgotten that what people do in the real world defines who they are — not what they think, or where they go. The assumption remains the same for social networks — sharing shouldn’t be lead by thoughts and check-ins, but by discovering and doing things — as a people.

The unforgiving question remains — what digital force will drive people down this path of enlightenment?

We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it. — Erik Qualman

Technology works best when there’s seamless integration with the users — intuition, practicality, and relevance — your friendly neighborhood iOS does this well. The Notes app not only works like a notepad, but looks like a notepad. It connects you, intuitively, to note-taking in the real world. Which consequently makes the digital transition easy. Intuitive social platforms would naturally need to play to these extensions of the human psyche, in order to be effective.

A number of growing, social technology companies are paving the way for this real world/digital harmony. From the detailed travel notes on TripAdvisor and the group effort events on Meetup, to the world’s social bucketlist via YayPlanner — startups are beginning to set the standard for how social media should cater to the strengths of real-life passions.

We live in an age where there is a firehose of information, and there is no hierarchy of what is important and what is not. Where the truth is often fashioned through a variety of digital means. Are you your avatar? Who are you in social media? What face do you turn toward the world? How much does it have in common with who you actually are? — David Carr

More importantly, this shift in social network direction should not be led by a few companies, but followed by others in their own dynamic ways, together, saving a dying love between social media and the real world — our modern day Romeo and Juliet.