Why social media makes the world a better place
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I like you. Do you like me? …
For some people growing up, making friends could have been challenging. Honestly, it kinda was for me. I went to a small, Christian school that pretty much sucked because of hypocritical parents and politics. I tried to fit in as best I could, but my parents wouldn’t always buy me the newest charms for those charm necklaces that all the kids were wearing. (Do any of you remember those cheap plastic things?) They also wouldn’t spend a bunch of money on “hip” clothes, which my friends had. I guess I could say I never really fit in…in a superficial social way. (Plus I was a kid that questioned things…which was a no no for kids to do, so most adults would say I had an “attitude” problem.)
Then we grow up. We get to make our own decisions on how we want to be, drop all the lame friends who didn’t accept us for who we WERE, and move on to bigger and better if we so choose.
When I think about then and now, I have no choice but to tie social media into who I am TODAY…both personally and professionally. I know I’ve written in previous posts how important the people who are in my social circles are to me. We’ve all been able to encourage AND empower one another through our posts, tweets, and friendships on and off line. INFLUENCE. PERIOD.
Now think about this on a bigger scale. Think about all the awareness of non-profits that social media has contributed to. Think of all the money that has been raised on a local, national and international level due to the efforts of those who want to help make a difference in the world. Could this influence have taken place without social media? Perhaps to a degree…but I honestly don’t believe it would have been the same.
Back in December, one of my favorite marketing companies, Firebelly Marketing, was working with one of their clients, United Way of Central Indiana. They decided to do a little social media experiment. They took some of us local social media folks to help them out with a little video to spread the word about Live United Give United. Ch-Ch-Check it!
The response was great! It raised awareness for the cause and also increased the number of $15-$100 donations between October and December immensely. (Note, it was difficult to pinpoint the ACTUAL amount, but they did feel their efforts pay off.) Not only did it increase donations, UWCI also saw a big increase in Twitter followers and Facebook fans. That’s not to say it was ALL social media…but overall, there was a huge impact on this amazing organization.
On a personal note, I’m not a news watcher. I rarely turn my television on, so all of my news comes from the web….more specifically, Twitter. That’s how I heard about the devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. I saw so many efforts from thousands of people who helped raise awareness and funds for these countries.
Social media as a whole has proven it has the power to be a game-changer…perhaps THE most influential game-changer of our time. It has taken all of YOU to be a part of that change…to be a part of each other’s lives…to be a part of mine. Yeah…that makes me feel good. How does it make you feel?
2 Responses to “ Why social media makes the world a better place ”
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Lindsay Manfredi, writer, ghost blogger, and social media rock star, founded Linzstar, Inc. in 2009 to help small and large companies create a more effective and profitable online presence. read more
Lindsay Manfredi
i truly cherish the internet and everything that has transpired as a result of it. friends, relationships, monetary transactions, giveaways, fan-boy fulfillment via true interaction with idols of the musical variety.
i think you are barely scratching the surface here about how ones social media page is also an extension of themselves. there have been recent studies that say around 95 percent of college aged kids have a FB account, and about 50 percent of high school kids have a FB account. most importantly was a very recent study from germany stating that 98 percent of people online in social mediums such as FB and twitter are truly who they say that they are. long gone are the days of being scared to meet people online as the vast majority are genuine to how their profile depicts them as. ive always said that you can tell if someone is genuine to who their page says just by talking to them a couple of times, in fact- ive met upwards of 2-300 people from the internet from various websites over the last 15 years for many numerous reasons.
i think a greater picture into someones life can be seen by looking at which social sites they do and dont participate in and who their friends list big or small includes, as well as looking at which of the popular sites they maybe signed up for and dont participate in regularly when they are very active on other popular sites. many direct correlations can be made to a persons page besides what is obviously stated. people with 100000030394484 pictures have a good chance that they think very highly of themselves, on the other hand, when a person has only 20 friends and 3 pictures of themself and their page is locked up privately, they tend to be very shy introverted people. again, this is only scratching the surface to show to somewhat opposites…
there is also the darkside of social interaction online, and that is commonly found in forums and message boards. people referred to as trolls are there to do nothing but bring the system down with negativity by arguing, belittling and name calling. i try to be as nice and polite and cordial to everyone online and in person, and i still get attacked for no reason for being myself.
sorry for rambling, this post sparked some stuff i wanted blab outloud.
I believe the most transformative power of social media is the one you glossed over. You wrote in an aside: “it was difficult to pinpoint the ACTUAL amount, but they did feel their efforts pay off.”
This is the kind of statement that we make outside of social media all the time. Whether we help people carry their packages, offer a kind word to a friend, or a run a public service announcement on television, it’s extremely difficult to figure out if what we’re doing actually matters.
But on internet-based social media, it’s *trivial* to figure out how much money is actually being made! All that Firebelly has to do is to create a special domain name (like: http://www.socialgiveunitedway.com) which *only* occurs in social media campaigns. Then you can actually MEASURE the effects of our efforts.
I love social media because for the first time in history, we can actually see what’s happening. You can look at the hits and comments on your post and determine if you are really making an impact. The power is in the numbers.