3 Ways We Can Bring Humanity Back to Social Media

we’ve all seen

how social media can be used as a

polarizing weapon

tool of manipulation and leading

cause for depression but today

i’d like to shed a little bit of light

on how when used uniquely

social media can be one of the most

powerful ways

to encourage and celebrate the people

around us

growing up in a family of seven one of

the biggest habits

we had in our house was sharing our

highs and lows

around the dinner table each day

and i was amazed as a kid how

often the highlights we shared

were a direct result of the people’s

actions

in our life and so when i left home and

went off to university

i set out a goal to remind myself

that i should always look for unique

ways

to create special moments in the other

lives around me

and being a younger person some might

say

a genzir i was naturally drawn

to social media to create those special

moments

and over the last little while i’ve been

wildly amazed at how big of a list there

is of fun and unique ways

to breathe humanity

back into how we use social media

but somewhere in between being a student

and starting our mortgage payments i

think we lose

track of how we can reach out

and spark a conversation without any

agenda at all

but if i was to survey the people

watching this today

i could place a bet on the top three

people that come to mind

when you think of social media

firstly you have the sleazy salesperson

probably on facebook you have the

inauthentic instagram influencer

and then you have the political voice on

twitter

and my question for you today is what if

we flipped the script and there wasn’t

a corporate agenda to sell or a

political

position to gain what if

the sole premise of our time on these

platforms

was just to spread optimism

and encourage others through the words

we have

and that’s what i would like to dig in

today

i’d like to share three stories

i’ve learned in my own life of how when

used uniquely

social media can breathe

humanity back into our relationships

idea number one the power

of shaping a wow moment

when i was a student at university i did

a semester exchange in ottawa

and i was positioned a couple minutes

down the road

from a big company i looked up to called

shopify

and you might have heard of them today

during my time there as a student

my goal was to see if i could maybe meet

with the ceo of the company harley

finkelstein he was an inspiring person

always on the news and always

appeared to be a great storyteller

and so out of my ambition to see if we

could meet for coffee

i went to instagram to see if maybe we

could connect

but within a couple weeks i heard

nothing

back at all and so for a last attempt

i thought i would try and drop off a

gift

to thank him for the example he was

in my life so i took to social media

to actually get in touch with some of

his friends to help

i reached out to people like the founder

of david’s tea

the mayor of ottawa and actually a

mentor of his

that was at google and within a couple

days

they all loved the idea and they sent

along

a couple inspiring words since they knew

the person that harley was

and within a week i put together a

little package

with some other notes and included a

note of my own

and i walked on over to the head office

and dropped it right

at the desk of the receptionist and i

addressed it

to his ear i walked home

and thought nothing else of it but the

next day

i got an email back from harley saying

whatever you want let’s do it thanks for

the creative gift

that you left and that story

still sticks out to me this day of how

when used uniquely we can use social

media

to shape these wow moments that can open

up a conversation

harley still works at shopify today

now as their president and the company

is valued at 150

billion dollars today

never think that your idea or the person

you’re wanting to chat with

is too ambitious of an idea

instead think of how you can use social

media

to shape a wow moment and you’ll be

surprised with what you can end up with

story number two sow seeds

of kindness

over the last couple years there’s been

a mentor in my life

that’s always gone above and beyond in

the health that he’s offered

and so he’s the kind of guy that

whenever i try to thank him

with a coffee or lunch it never seems

like it’s quite enough

but in one of our conversations he

referenced a book

called good to great by jim collins

some of you might be familiar with it

and after that meeting i had a light

bulb moment

to see if maybe i could get in touch

with the author

to send an inspiring note and a signed

copy of the book

to give his way but i didn’t know where

to start

and so i went to social media to draft a

couple notes

on the platforms to see which ones he’d

respond to

and sure enough one of them he got back

to

and he was more than happy to help

he responded loved the idea

and ceced his team to send off

a signed copy of the book and even

included one

for myself later that week

as i’m preparing for my next meeting i

got a little excited

and dropped it off waiting for his

reaction

and sure enough the disbelief on his eye

and his face proved that it was a

creative gift of kindness

that gave him a fun surprise

and to this day i’m still reminded

that the other people we see on the

other side of the screen

although they’re busy although they

might be distracted

they’re always willing to help as long

as we ask

and so i challenge you the next idea you

have

that seems too far stretched see how you

can use social

media to sow a seed of kindness

because other people are always open

to helping if they can story number

three

start surprising

a while back it was my wife’s birthday

and i wanted to go above and beyond

since that’s what she’s always done for

me

since it was her 24th birthday i thought

instead of doing the flowers and

chocolates i’d go a step

deeper and act on her love language

which was words of affirmation

and so as it was her 24th birthday i

thought i’d try and reach out

to 24 of her closest friends

mentors and past bosses to see if they

could help send a note

of a memory or quality that they’re

reminded of

when they hear of my wife and so within

a couple days i take to facebook

instagram twitter and linkedin

and for most of this group they had

never

seen or met me in person

they were people from large groups of

companies in different time zones

and within a couple days i received

those 24 notes and some of them even got

back to me within a couple minutes

i was amazed that these people wanted to

take

time out of their day to make a special

moment

for the birthday of my wife and sure

enough

we’re on the top floor of the restaurant

we’re sitting down and having our meal

and when i cue the server my wife gets a

little confused

when he hands her the piece of paper

with the notes

and she opens it up and to disbelief

she’s surprised by

all the names that were willing and

creative enough

to send a note to package together on

her birthday

and as she starts to read it she starts

to tear up

blown away by the process of people

caring for her even though they weren’t

physically there with her

that night it was safe to say

it was a much better decision

than the flowers option and it was

also a unique reminder

that people are never too far away

to help and be there in the moment

i think we’ve made social media

about how big of an influence one

celebrity can have when it really should

be about how big of an impact

any person can have with one

message and there’s no denying

that social media is a toxic environment

when not used right

but what i’m trying to say is if you’re

creative enough

and willing to be thinking outside the

box

i think it can be one of the most

untapped

free ways to celebrate and encourage

the people in our community

so if i may i’d like to present

three tips for the next time you’re

using social media

tip number one stand

for something we all know

the statistics around depression and

suicide rates are climbing

and so there’s no denying that

encouragement

is in high demand and often

low supply

be someone that’s going to stand for

something

when the opportunity presents itself

tip number two build an encouragement

system

grab a friend mentor or even a parent

and look at the way you use social media

on a daily basis when you’re scrolling

or looking at catching up on photos see

how you can reach out

and send a message when the time is

right

and tip number three most importantly

don’t wait for the right opportunity

send a message today

it doesn’t need to be a haiku poem

or a shakespeare essay it just needs to

be

a step forward think of

the author teacher or business person

that’s inspired you to be who you are

today

as long as you’re creative genuine

and polite the worst thing that can

happen

is that you waste 30 seconds of your day

on a note that doesn’t get seen but the

best thing that can happen

hoping that they see it is that it

sparks a reminder

of that person’s incredible value to the

world

and it opens up a dialogue for the years

to come

when do you think the last time was

that the person had an encouraging note

what do you think that person wrestles

through

on a daily basis with their thoughts

the next time that you’re scrolling

on your phone stop

be brave and send a message

because you never know where it can lead

thank you