Social media gets a bad reputation but, sometimes, it can be a powerful tool for good when used thoughtfully. Every year, when I have my mammogram, I always post on social media and  remind other women to schedule their own potentially life-saving screening.  Every year there is at least one of my friends who thank me for the post and write that they are going to schedule their own. 

Those sort of comments warm my heart. Sometimes, a simple post can cut through procrastination and fear in a way that public service announcements sometimes cannot. 

I have found the same to be true in my local community.  A very beloved local restaurant recently reopened after being closed for five years. We had dinner there on Friday night.  I quickly posted on a local restaurant Facebook page informing the followers of that page that that the restaurant had reopened and the food was just as good as it had been. As of this writing, my post had over 100 likes and thirty-three comments all stating that the writers looked forward to patronizing the restaurant.

Posting about the restaurant, hopefully drove real business through the door and helped the owners rebuild. Maybe social media isn’t just about selfies and opinions — maybe it’s also about lifting each other up. 

Have you used social media for good?