5 Ways Social Media Makes You a Better Person
Chances are you are stumbling upon this article through some kind of social media source. Twitter or Facebook, perhaps? You might see it standing next to another writer’s take on why social media makes us depressed, less confident, and anti-social. But I do not think that is true. Because of this, I want to bring to you several reasons why social media can make you a better individual.
1 Social media can save lives
Voltaire and Spiderman’s Uncle Ben both have said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Social media puts the world in the palm of our hand, so to speak. Not only does have connection to a million viewers throughout the world give us amazing outreach, social media puts us in touch with people who can help us.
Take organ donors, for example. Without social media to spread the message, there are many people – most of them are children – who would not have found the help they needed in time to survive.
I am sure we have all heard the stories of people using Twitter to help locate those who had been kidnapped or lost. People can share videos in a blink of an eye or send us live footage to help law enforcement officials or other investigative services bring evil to justice. Or, we can use social media to raise awareness before disaster strikes. In other words, social media brings out the good Samaritan in all of us.
2 It is an excellent tool
Furthermore, social media is like the great sword Excalibur, hoisted from the Stone by a righteous grip. Excalibur granted King Arthur the power to aid those in need. Think of that the next time you start scanning Kickstarter and Go Fund Me for people to donate money to.
Remember that with just a click, you can send money or food to the Amazon rainforest, to starving children in Africa, to homeless animals in Japan, or to the disaster-stricken families in Haiti.
Another way social media becomes a tool is how it keeps us constantly informed about whatever we decide to stay connected to. For example, Twitter is my go-to for weather reports or random global news updates. Facebook has gotten quite deft at weaving in local news feeds and PR campaigns for businesses into my main page.
We also can’t forget the use of “sharing.” Clicking a button and spreading the word about something you are passionate about has never been easier.
Read also – 5 Totally New Ways to Use Social Media
3 Social media develops communication skills
Before you start nay-saying me on this, take a moment to consider how much you read online every day. If you are like me, almost everything you do is connected to the Internet and social media in some regard.
Yes, there are some heinous examples of grammar to be found. But for the most part, people have learned how to express themselves in succinct yet informative statements (thanks, Twitter).
You might not think about it much, but reading and writing text messages, emails, your best friends status update, blogs, and even those recipes that pop up on Facebook increase your literacy and vocabulary.
Through voice messaging and apps like Snapchat, people can learn how to speak “publicly.” Or at least they learn how to overcome the fear of sounding silly… even though some still do…
4 It makes us social
But all else aside, social media allows us to connect to others of similar interests and stay involved in each other’s lives even when we are hundreds or thousands of miles apart. You might find yourself commenting on something shared from someone you do not know and get a decent conversation going.
You might find yourself heading out to an internet café to use the Wi-Fi and meet others who share your interests. If you frequent YouTube or Instagram, you might find yourself gathering up a following. Social media allows us to become engaged with people and places that would otherwise be shut away from our reach.
Read also – Social Media: Why I Took a Vacation from It Today
5 Social media brings us together
“It is a small world after all.” A lot of the connections I have personally made have been through social media. Using platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have given me the tools needed to connect to friends, family, and even make new ones. Social media lets me see the way other cultures live. Social media gives me access to current events beyond my local field of view. Hopefully, social media is doing that for you as well.
Social media does indeed get a bad rep for making other people’s lives seem so much better or giving us information some would rather go without knowing. If used properly, social media can help you help others, and in turn, it can broaden your knowledge and perspective of the world.
