Not All Bad: A Look at the Benefits of Social Media
It’s an obvious statement for so many of us: social media has become intertwined with our daily lives. It’s even probably the case that you found this article in your daily swiping.
Pretty much all of us have these platforms on our phones and are fully aware of our tendency to mindlessly scroll our feeds until something catches our attention. As I touched on in my last article, there can certainly be negative elements to our relationship with social media. But there are also some very big benefits to connecting with others online. I want to shed light on some of the pros of social media use.
As we look at the pros and cons of anything, it quickly becomes apparent that one side is typically the opposite of the other. So we have to look at social media from multiple points of view.
Social media’s wide variety of uses
Social media certainly does allow for easier availability and connection with those we don't see on a regular basis. We can see births, weddings, graduations, and new jobs of our friends and family who are far away. Most businesses utilize social media presence, listing hours and info, and keeping us updated on recent deals. There are groups to meet other people with shared interests that you may not have met otherwise. Social media can give you professional connections, recommendations for a good dentist, or someone to play racquetball with. The options are truly endless.
With all of this, let’s synthesize three major ways social media can benefit us.
1. Keeping up with others
I know many people who use social media to keep up with old high school and college friends they wouldn’t otherwise get to see. Photos, videos, and life updates give people the ability to easily witness and celebrate others’ achievements. I can’t be the only one that is assisted by Facebook to know when I should be wishing my friends a happy birthday.
2. Creating local community connections
Social media has tons of township and neighborhood groups. Need to sell a couch? Looking for a plumber? Neighborhood groups can get us info at the drop of a hat. No need to go knocking door-to-door for extra salt anymore! This also allows people to know what is going on around their local town and the potential to become more active in their community.
Lots of churches use social media for this very reason. Church communities can quickly get information out to a lot of people, giving them the opportunity to participate in something they may enjoy and connect with others. As much as social media can isolate us, it also has the potential to bring us together in face-to-face settings.
3. Supporting those in need
Through social media, we can quickly share stories and provide support for those who are struggling.
GoFundMe (and other fundraisers), charities, and local family support have all become easily accessible through the use of social media. You’ve likely given to someone in need (whether you know them or not) through posts on social media.
The internet gives us extra reach. Whether it is financially, physically, or emotionally, we can now rally around those facing crisis and heartbreak, near or far. It can be downright impressive to see the amount of support can be shown to someone when the rubber meets the road and help is needed.
Wisdom and our relationship with social media
Taking a deeper look into the benefits of social media—the reasons society jumped on board so quickly to social networks—gives perspective on how we can choose to interact with it. There’s a big push against it, and for good reason as I wrote about in my last article. But what if the best thing to do is not to totally shun social media, but to incorporate wisdom in our relationship with it? What if we could use social media to our benefit, and not our detriment?
Consider what your relationship with social media looks like. Are there other benefits I didn’t look at? Are you using it wisely? How could you incorporate wisdom into how you interact with social media? Sometimes it is incredibly helpful to ask yourself, what would Jesus do?