INSPIRATIONS AND CHALLENGES

Social media has an enormous capacity to do good; to be used for good. Over the years, companies and brands have utilised the reach of social media in order to spread a message. If this message is positive and uplifting, it commonly will go viral throughout the Internet. With one click of a button, a Facebook user can share a post to all of their friends. Those friends see the post and also decide to share it. Through this process, inspirational videos are able to achieve what they intend to do: Inspire. Something which I have found inspiring on social media is an Instagram account called ‘We’re Not Really Strangers.’ This account was created by a woman named Koreen who developed a card game with this same title. The card game focuses on bringing people together and breaking down walls. To engage with someone you hardly know anything about and to surrender to your feelings. With 1.5 million followers, Koreen has a huge audience to interact with. I find her posts incredibly inspiring as it invites strangers to come together on a social network and realise we are more alike than we think.

Here is a video which shows strangers playing her card game:

http://www.instagram.com/tv/B81-0HRAlvK/?hl=en

This video was incredibly inspiring as it reminded me that it is so important to discuss deep questions with other people; to understand our own feelings and how others may deal with them. I always suggest this account to others and it has become my favourite account to view when I’m feeling down and want to find comfort in Koreen’s positivity.

On the contrary, social media also has the capacity to be extremely toxic. I am constantly challenged whilst on social media platforms. Challenged, angered, disappointed, disturbed… the list goes on. A huge comment of social media and what makes it “social” is the involvement of users. To allow for comment sections where individuals can share their opinions, discuss content or even just to support someone. But with support there’s always someone who “hates.” Celebrity News accounts on Instagram are very popular including well known news channel E!News. E! specialises in celebrity news and updates and while their posts are usually positive, their comment sections are notorious for being just the opposite. Here is an example:

If you take a look at the comment section to the right, the FIRST 3 comments which are displayed are all negative. What makes me feel uneasy is that these are all women commenting these negative things. I am constantly challenged by how often I see other women tear each other down on social media. My question is, how do we prevent this? CAN we prevent this?