Social Media has the Ability to Change Lives

There are 2.8 billion active social media users worldwide, a 22% increase from last year. Facebook has 1.9 billion unique monthly users. And generation x and millennials spend at least 7 hours a week on social media. That being said, social media has the ability to change the world. (http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/top-social-network-demog...)

There has been a negative association recently about how social media is ruining lives, and making horrible situations worse. It's said to be associated with memory loss, arthritis, depression, anxiety, eye problems, and a thousand more things people come up with. What people don't seem to mention, is the potential that social media has for great things. Social media has a power that nothing else has. And that is to get anything in the world noticed by millions in seconds.

Where do people go for their news now? Social media. Where do people share stories and pictures and videos now? Social media. What do people do in their free time? Social media. Social media is becoming such a way of life, that if used properly, could be life changing if we take advantage of it for the right reasons.

1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. Could you imagine how many lives could be improved, changed, and saved if people shared more often on social media about those severely struggling and what we could do to help? Instead of sharing what you had for dinner or what new car you bought, share one quick statistic or link to an article to raise awareness of poverty and even that one post will make a world of difference. Know why? Because of the power of social media.

That one post will be viewed by at least 100 people (more times than not it'll be way more) - that's 100 people who's minds have even thought about those in poverty for a second, a second longer than they have before. Say a friend enjoys your post and shares it. There's a new set of 100 viewing your post because of their friends. One of their friends share it, another 100 at least. That's 300 people in a mater of minutes (this is the bare minimum, if you have a lot of friends that number could be in the thousands).

Do you get where I'm going with this? If awareness of an issue has any chance of growing, social media is it's best bet. It's the largest, most efficient awareness technique and although it gets a bad rap, if we use it for the right reasons, we could be saving lives. Hundreds, thousands, millions, and hopefully eventually billions of lives. A post takes about ten seconds, and it has the potential to save lives. Be the difference. Start a trend. Help those who need it.