As I use social media it can be accidently educational.
Why do I say this? I have shared many social media posts here and learned from them.
I don’t always agree with the social media that I post. I do think they are factual, thoughtful or have important information to share.
I am writing this now because I was thinking this morning of something I read yesterday. Some of the social media post that are popular I will read some of the comments to see what people think about it. One of them talked about a scientific principle that was basic. Something that I learned in elementary school as a young kid. Yet an adult made a comment that showed they clearly didn’t understand that principle. I was surprised. Why did this person miss such a basic lesson?
Then I remembered my own past in Idaho. With the poor spending per student, we were told more lies than truths. Our textbooks were so old they didn’t have the moon landing in them. It was sad and I started reading to fill in the gaps of my own ignorance.
Too many people have had poor education, and so its difficult for them to understand the world. It must be so comfortable for them to have someone who tells they them will be responsible for everything and they don’t have to do anything but vote for them. When the world doesn’t make sense to you, and you are struggling economically, people vote for what they think will help them.
This isn’t me looking down at these people. I was one of these people! I knew there was more and I wanted to learn more and understand so that my life could improve. To me, libraries and the internet was the answer to my ignorance and they have given me the foundation of my life.
Now Social media can educate if we share content that has information presented in a helpful way. If you don’t understand, watching content creators that explain things makes your world less scary and more understandable. I understand fear. We are all afraid of what we don’t understand. However the more that we try to protect ourselves by not changing, the more we become vulnerable to the change that is happening in the world.
Life requires courage and it isn’t easy but that means looking at your values, thoughts and feeling and asking yourself if they are helping you. If your life is getting worse, then the answer is almost always inside of you. If you can’t find it, ask your friend or those around you for help.