Use Social Media To Do Good

While driving home from lunch earlier, I accidentally listened to this interesting talk on the radio. This lady was sharing with the host how she created a group on social media called 'Buy Nothing'. The name of the group instantly attracted my attention so I stayed kept on listening instead of changing the radio channel. This group is created to help people passing on unwanted items to people who does need them. For example, let's say I have a coffee table that I no longer need and do not wish to just throw it into the bin, I can post this item on that group and members have the chance to bid for it. The bidding criteria is not monetary but on the reasons the bidder gives. Upon receiving all the submitted 'reasons' to have the item, I the owner of the coffee table will then decide who meets the criteria of suitable candidate to have the table. So while not create more waste to the environment, I get to help others who really need it at the same time. 

That's just such a wonderful idea! People using social media to do good as a community. Too bad, we don't see too many of this type of positive motives on social media nowadays. Every time I turn on Facebook, 9 out of 10 news feed that pop up on my phone are negative. There are more negativities hidden in the comments section. Never mind if you are posting the most delicious lunch that you just had and wished to share with other people, there are bound to be those who would comment how the food taste terrible or there is better one down the road. It's almost like people's minds automatically switch to negative mode when they want to leave comments on social media.

The more extreme case will be like President Donald Trump who constantly stokes hatred among his followers which eventually led to the unfortunate violence at Capital Hill last Wednesday. Most social media giants like Twitter and Facebook have since suspended his accounts.

A knife can be used to both carve out beautiful sculpture and hurt people at the same time. Social media works the same way. We should help stopping negativity from spreading relentlessly by contributing more constructive and helpful content  on the internet.

刚刚午餐后开车回家时，我无意中听到电台播了一段有趣的对话。一位女士正在与主持人分享她如何在社交媒体里创建一个名为“不买任何东西”的小组。我顿时对这小组的名十分有兴趣，所以我就不更改广播频道继续听下去。该女士创建该这小组的目的是为了帮助人们将不需要的物品传递给比较需要它们的人。假设我有一个不再用的咖啡桌但我又不想把它扔掉，我可以将此物品发布到该组中，那时成员们就有机会竞标。投标标准不是金钱，而是投标人需要给出的有创意的理由。收到所有提交的“理由”之后，物主就会决定谁给出的理由是最符合的。这场没有金钱的“买卖”不但不会给环境造成更多伤害，同时还可以帮助其他更需要的人。

这真是个好主意啊！如今在社交媒体里我们看不到太多像这种积极的活动。每次我打开面子书时，手机都会弹出无数负面的新闻。其他人的评论再不必多说了。就算你只是纯粹想分享你刚吃过的美食，还是会有人评论这种食物的味道如何糟糕，或者其他店比它好吃等等。

更极端的情况就像特朗普总统那样，他不断的在社交媒体向他的追随者煽动仇恨，最终导致上周三在美国首都发生的不幸暴力事件。这事件过后大多数社交媒体巨头如推特和面子书都已暂停其帐户。

一把刀既可以雕刻出精美的雕像，也可以同时伤害他人。社交媒体也是一样。我们应该通过在互联网上提供更具建设性和帮助性的内容来阻止消极情绪无止境地传播下去。