Over the past week or so, I’ve been asking people to reply to me on Twitter with the reasons why they are thankful for social media. About 25 of you responded, and I think your answers are definitely representative of social media users. There’s been a lot of talk lately about personal branding, a lot of people getting fed up with certain aspects of the social media world. It was that sentiment, on top of the fact that it’s Thanksgiving week, that compelled me to ask that question and write this post.
Yes, there are some people who use social media partially or completely for their own personal gain. It’s all about them, promote, promote, promote. But, don’t let those people turn you off to social media. They are not what it’s all about, we are. I took the text of the answers people gave me and plugged them into a word cloud generator, and here’s what I got:
As you can see, the most mentioned words (after thankful social media) are words like connections, people, helped, and met. The next level includes ideas, smart, intellectual, friendships, life, world and grateful. True, this is only a sample of opinions, but it’s a pretty amazing collection. Words like profit, brand, and success are nowhere to be found.
To answer my own question, I am thankful for social media for the special community it provides, filled with smart, caring, talented people from around the world. Some of my closest friends are people I “met” online.
On this Thanksgiving, take a step back. Forget all of the bullshit and drama, remove the negative thoughts and experiences from your mind. Look around at your life, online and offline, and give thanks for all that you have.
A big thanks to everyone who replied and RTed the question that inspired this post. Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
