“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”
-Winston Churchill
In an online world where the 24 hour news cycle reigns king, one theme seems to hold steadfast across each and every day: negativity. Violence, terrorism, corrupt politicians, celebrity feuds, a world gone awry. Even though it may be difficult to keep one’s head held high, this is what needs to occur.
A 2008 study found that happiness is a collective phenomenon, where there was up to a 35% chance that individuals would become happy and feed off the happiness of those around them if they were surrounded by other happy individuals.
338- The average number of Facebook friends (2014).
453-The average number of Twitter followers, excluding those with over 100 thousand (2016).
194-The median number of Instagram followers (2014).
If anything, these numbers have increased in recent times; regardless, every time you post a story, retweet a photo, or comment on your friend’s status, that may be seen by tens, hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals. The things you say and the posts you make can have a profound impact on others. A 2010 study contended that those who consumed the most social media had “reduced bonding and bridging capital and increased loneliness” when compared to those who did not spend as much time social networking.
So to all of my social media savants, I issue a challenge: be positive. Utilize your followers and friends to be a means to an end of increased happiness and positivity in others. There is enough negativity in this world that will not be changed by throwing more negative words back into its face. Real change will start with action, positive action, that will slowly but surely help make both the physical and online world a better place.
It doesn’t matter how many likes, how many comments, or how many views you get: just go out and do it.
