“Social media isn’t the problem, too much social media is the problem”. Many people have said that, including actor Denzel Washington. 18 months ago I would have told you I had no real interest in social media, and that it can be the cause of a lot of problems for some.
If you allow, it can consume your mind in a really toxic way. I still agree with this by the way, it’s just that I now see a different side to it than can be very beneficial.
When the pandemic came along, it opened up new avenues for many, myself included. The company I work for started a website called Threestories.ie as all retail stores had to close. Social media was a great support in this new venture for both my colleagues and I.
I knew that if I wanted to keep progressing myself, I had to invest some time and effort into new ways of working, including the use of social media. It was either that or stand still and for me standing still isn’t an option.
Some social media platforms are getting a lot of bad press of late, and rightly so given some of its downfalls. On the other hand, the last 12 months have opened my eyes to the wonder of social media platforms and their benefits. Read on to see why I think social media can be good for you, if used correctly.
1. You can educate yourself.
You can learn pretty much ANYTHING on social media! YouTube especially is a platform I have personally found so helpful this past year.
12 months ago I had no idea how to operate the back end of a website. Thanks to hours and hours of YouTube tutorials (among other things), I can now proudly say I’m a website manager.
When I finally decided to set up a Blog back in February, I wanted to create the website from scratch. Again, thanks to Facebook, Instagram and YouTube I managed to do just that. I also set up and run the social media platforms for this blog, something I wouldn’t have dreamt of 2 years ago.
Terra Ferma Media highlight the fact that learning something new is at the tip of everyone’s fingers thanks to social media platforms and that’s something we should be thankful for. Serial entrepreneur Gary Vee speaks about this constantly too.
2. Networking.
There is a saying many of you would have heard before that rings true time and time again…”it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”.
Social media is great for keeping in touch with friends but it’s also fantastic to keep in touch with like minded people for work or day to day life.
Inc.com have a great article highlighting the importance of relationship building on social media.
LinkedIn would be most recognised as a networking platform for “professionals”, but Facebook and Instagram can be great for that too.
You don’t have to be good friends with someone to follow them on your platform of choice, you might learn some great things from like-minded people like me and vice versa.
Who knows what can come of this; opportunities may open up down the road for you because of this relationship you build online, so it can be worth the effort.
3. You can promote yourself.
Social media makes the world a much smaller place which is great if you are trying to get yourself out there. You can promote whatever message you are trying to get across, whether it’s:
- advertising a business.
- promoting a service you provide.
- raising awareness about certain topics.
- highlighting the fact you are looking for employment.
This type of self promotion can directly or indirectly help you earn an income so it’s worth taking seriously.
4. Available to use 24/7.
The days of working 9-5 and everything switching off are all but gone. With working from home, shift work and communicating from one corner of the globe to the next now all a huge feature in many peoples lives, access to information at any time of the day is key.
Social media provides that with 24/7 availability. This can allow people to structure their day how they see fit. Early birds and night owls have the exact same access to content on social media platforms as each other. This makes things a more level playing field which is fantastic. We can’t use the excuse “well I don’t have access to that, how could I know”.
We have access to everything at the click of a button. The struggle right now is the volume of content out there and how to focus on what’s relevant to you personally, but that’s another blog I think.
5. Helps promote charitable causes.
Lots of good is coming out of social media platforms right now in terms of helping people who need it the most. Things like:
- go fund me pages.
- charity walks/cycles.
- advertising of charity campaigns.
- highlighting atrocities to make governments wake up.
These are all really worthwhile and noble things to focus on. The power of social media can go a long way to transforming a friend or strangers life/circumstances in a really positive way, and that should only be celebrated.
To Conclude
As I said at the beginning, social media is going through a rough PR time at the minute, and rightly so.
We shouldn’t forget though, there is so much good we can all take from the platforms too. Connectivity, accessibility and knowledge have never been easier for us to reach.
Unfortunately somewhere along the way, click-bait and sensationalist content seems to have taken over and dominated platforms. It’s important we as individuals can focus on cutting through the garbage to get what we really want out of social media. If you can do that, social media is definitely a worthwhile tool to have in your back pocket.