Empowering Social Media: Combating Toxicity and Fostering Positive Communities

Social media, a place usually referred to as a casual space for friends, families, long-lost colleagues and miles-away sitting pals to share almost anything from news, videos, images to live updates have steadily got a professional upgrade, too. With advertisements to job opportunities, industrial insights to upcoming innovations and professional developments getting it all available on the various social media portals like Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn and many more, life has been brought at great ease. Both the professional and personal outlooks of people have been brought to a new and better-defined version but still, there’s a lot more that causes severe aches while we are spending our time on social media. Yes, it’s the privacy concerns and online bullying that we are referring to and which have already contaminated the otherwise growing great social media world and continuing with its toxic spree.

As per a recent crowdsourced study released by Amnesty International and Element AI on abuses faced by women on Twitter, “In every 30 seconds women of color, particularly the blacks experience the worst kind of abuse with the greatest frequency.” And, unfortunately, the case of such severe toxicity isn’t limited to just Twitter only but also has its tight hold in other social media platforms as well. Shockingly, from kids to elderly, working professionals to non-working individuals and students all are at the verge of falling in this trap of severe risks. Amidst, all these atrocities spread wide in the digital world; one can still contribute to building positive and uplifting communities in many of these spaces. Thankfully many of the social media agencies have started with the initiative and some responsible individuals are also spreading the word of social goodness and even others can join this bandwagon by doing two simple things listed below:

1. Make authentic profiles a priority: Don’t be someone online that isn’t you in reality. What you share and post or what you promote and take forward on social media portals will carve out the personality that the world perceives to be you. And, with virtual and reality increasingly getting close day-by-day, it’s important to only reflect your real personality and not hide under the veil of digital fakeness. Even while spreading a word online that has arrived at you from other sources, make sure to first ensure its authenticity, before sharing.

2. Let the truth prevail: The truth won’t be there until we are into our let it is attitude and refusing to adopt the judgment and action roles. The social media spaces aren’t perfectly egalitarian but with some wise individuals and social media companies, space has clearly aided in the democratization of information. Continuing with the same attitude, all must pledge to share only justified information through their portals and move the social media world to a more appropriate and judicious environment for all to thrive.

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