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
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