Without a doubt, the power of social media is undeniable. Just look at Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, and the likes. Social media has the reach few can match. What is the utility of these social media? How can they help to improve our lives?
On the most fundamental level social media connect people with similar interests, values, opinions, ideas. They provide a platform for human expression and sharing. They satisfy our basic need of being connected with one anothers.
In a generic sense, social media are amoral. Their contents are from the participants. Thus by extension and in aggregate, each of the social media has a persona of its own. Facebook is for keeping in touch with friends & family, LinkedIn for professional networking, Twitter for short message (140 characters) broadcasting, etc.
How we use the social media therefore depends on our specific interests. Social media’s purposes notwithstanding, bad people have bad intents. And they will exploit the social media. Examples include cyber bullying, fake news, scams, hate mail, and whatnot. My concern with the social media lies in their trustworthiness.
Certainly the platform owners have the responsibility to maintain the integrity of their social media. However, problems persist beyond their best efforts. It is a case of tail whacking the dog or have we created a monster. The problems stare right back at us since the social media are supposed to be amoral.
How do you leverage social media to enable yourself, business, career?
Running with Buddha 