Do you think that the rise in social media popularity and the relative decrease in face to face interactions and relationships is related to the increasing rates of suicide in our society? Why or why not? Explain your answer.

This is such a relevant conversation to be having in our society, and researchers are increasingly looking at these trends. To say that social media causes depression and suicide might be a stretch (at least with current research), but there seems to be definite correlations between the frequency of social media usage and the tendency to become depressed (and even suicidal).
This seems to especially affect the younger populations, likely because they are still looking for self-identification and investigating social norms through social media. Therefore, they are more likely impacted by what happens on social media platforms than an older population would be (though no one is immune to the effects of long periods of time spent in isolation and interacting with others primarily through virtual means).
The Centers for Disease Control published a study that found interesting results:
Between 2009 and 2015, the percentage of teens using their smartphones for more than 5 hours per day more than doubled, from 8 percent to 19 percent.
In 2015, 35 percent of all teens reported feeling depressed enough to consider suicide. This was a 4 percent increase from 2009.
In 2015, 87 percent of 12th grade girls used social media every day or almost every day. This rose from 58 percent in 2009. These same girls were 14 percent more likely to report depression than girls who used social media less frequently.
The US National Library of Medicine released another study which found the following:
People in the highest quartile (the top 25%) of time spent on social media also had significantly higher odds of reporting depression.
People who clicked on social media sites most often had significantly higher odds of reporting depression.
Being female and/or being in a lower economic bracket further impacted these results.
Passive use of social media decreases bonding abilities and increases feelings of loneliness.
Lots of the effects of social media come down to individual personalities and usage. While some may spend most of their time liking friends' posts, job networking, and even using social media platforms as money-making opportunities, other personality types will be drawn to focusing on the negatives in themselves and in others, and that leads to unhealthy thinking.
https://nypost.com/2017/11/14/rise-in-teen-suicide-connected-to-social-media-popularity-study/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4853817/