Do you know the number 1 phrase posted on facebook after Hurricane Sandy roared through the northeast?
“We’re okay”
Having been through it with family here, I found myself thankful for social media and technology that helped keep me connected.
What about you? Have you been able to contact those you care about in the midst of disaster? Has technology made it easier to not worry?
facebook (Photo credit: sitmonkeysupreme)
I don’t know if I’ll ever not be surprised at some of the conversations/comments I find on facebook. Take today, for example - some very ”loud” expressions and feelings publicly displayed for everyone to see, whether it was decrying a damaged relationship, “no one appreciates me”, or the sheer rudeness of comments because someone’s favorite was booted from American Idol (yes – this is surprising indeed!). So I took some time away from the technology, and lost myself in some old-fashioned cleaning, inside and out. While I was cleaning my office tonight, I found an article entitled “Why Civility Matters”. There were a number of reasons cited for the “new normal”, like sensational media, lax standards, and the like. There were also some suggested tools to counter the incivility, two which I found particularly interesting. The very first on the list was “make a habit of practicing kindness, generosity and gratitude.” The second was to invest in social relationships, especially giving time to personal conversations and face to face interaction. Both suggestions were connected with a higher degree of happiness and health.
What do you think about these suggestions? Do you find they help the ability to be civil in today’s world?
Rays (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you have a facebook account, I am certain that someone has posted these to your wall – or you’ve seen them from someone you are friends with on facebook. Worth the read! Thanks to Cassandra from My Life Is My Message for elaborating a bit more. Yeah, check out her blog too – it’s awesome!
Read The Top Five Regrets of the Dying via 3 simple ways to live without regrets.
Yes, I am self-promoting! The best way to spread kindness is to help spread the news about those who are trying to live by it. So…make sure you are sharing the posts you like here, like the facebook page, share posts on facebook…you get the idea. I really like what Lady Gaga said in her article that it’s more about a grass-roots empowerment campaign than a crack-down on not being nice. Imagine if everyone took time in their day to be kind. That’s what the theme is here, on this blog – to get others, myself included, to bring civility back to life, courtesy as the cool thing to do, treating others as we would like to be treated.
Would you help in spreading the news? That would be so kind of you!
Opinions are like noses…everybody has one (and you thought I was going to say something else, didn’t you!). So how did we get to a place of shoving our opinions into peoples’ faces, and if they don’t agree, well, they’ll just….you fill in the blanks. Emotions get in the way. Tempers flare. We say things that are probably better left unsaid.
I enjoyed an exchange on facebook yesterday from a friend who was quoting another blog post. The blog author made this comment: “the key to using media in our mission may lie as much in our restraint as in our creativity. Within a matter of seconds, I have the capability to share my opinions about any conceivable topic or issue with the world in a matter of seconds. But just because I can, doesn’t mean that I should…”
Looking at any of my social networks that I use, I can probably find some pretty good examples of poor restraint. I’ve even done it, not proud to say. I’ve been guilty at times of letting that “verbal schrapnel” fly. And then wincing, knowing what I just said “didn’t come out like it should”. Or maybe it did. I am hopeful that I can continue finding ways to express my opinion in a manner that respects others’ rights to their own. We don’t have to agree. But we should try to get along.
Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. Let it begin with me…
