How To: Utilize Social Media for Voicing Worries & Sharing Concerns!

“Pain shared is pain lessened; joy shared is joy increased. Thus do we refute entropy”. The Callahan Chronicles

Confusion!

Maybe misery enjoys company, maybe it doesn’t. Either way, the truth of the matter remains to be that whatever an individual maybe going through, regardless of how positive or negative it may be, being able to voice and share concerns, sorrow, anger and worries usually makes the burdens less and more bearable!

Therefore, this post is dedicated to answering the following questions: Could social media really help people in distress? Does it have the ability to reduce stress, anxiety and confusion through its different venues? Is being open and sharing personal feelings and experiences through social media positive?

Speaking from Personal Experience:

Privacy is a very highly valued element in one’s life. That is a given. Yet, sometimes, when your close friends’ advice seems to be scarce or redundant and you have different conflicting thoughts which you, yourself, are unable to resolve or handle, exposing part of yourself through a viral medium, such as social media, might actually bring positive outcomes!

Speaking from my own personal experience, I can assure you that both my blog and my Facebook account – the notes application- have helped me, at many times, release tension by sharing experiences and getting various types of responses such as sympathy, empathy, constructive criticism, advice and so on!

Blog to vent...

In my opinion, if used wisely, social media actually helps you realize: you are not alone! From there on, you realize that your pain, worries and concerns are universal thus the load of the “why me?” question is transformed and generalized to a “it happens to many others out there”!

How Can Social Media Serve this Universal Unity?

As risky as it maybe to expose oneself to the unknowns out there, one should never forget the possibility of easily being hurt and betrayed by those who are “close” as well. With that in mind, I guess social media provides many different ways in which one could vent and feel at unity with others out there seeking peace of mind and healing of the heart and soul!

Short Expressive Tweets:

I’ve been using Twitter for almost 10 months now and it still strikes me how short tweets about hurtful relationships, true longing, expressing love or loss have the ability to move me and make me feel close to a person I have never met, and will probably never meet, based on the common factors that brought these tweets out in the open!

An example of sharing love with a simple tweet

Writing & Blogging:

Regardless of the nature of the post: poetic, story-like or just a short scene, blog posts have the ability to bring the writer closer to his/her audience especially when real, heart-felt emotions are being expressed, whether positive or negative. The comments’ section allows for conversations and arguments which may have the power to bring about change.

An example of comments on a blogpost

Facebook Shares, Updates & Notes:

Although Facebook poses different private concerns and problems, it can be a great venue for venting. Whether you use Facebook notes to share random thoughts, pieces of poetry or writings, or you use it for sharing songs expressing how you feel, or even in simple status updates which describe what one feels, Facebook helps in venting and sharing concerns and worries!

Looking for answers through Facebook status updates

Learning from Research & Studies:

Through social media and social bookmarking sites in specific, finding what you currently need to make you stronger or maybe wiser about a certain situation you are going through is facilitated. At least hundreds of people out there are going through the same situation you might be going through. Many of those are sharing tips and how to’s about ways to bring about a bit of serenity into your life. Using Mixx for example, you are able to find many researches and studies about relationships and other topics which you could learn from.

An example of using Mixx for finding & reading topics for a clearer mind

Together We Stand, Divided We Fall!

As “utopian” as this statement might seem, it is a fact that we find comfort in knowing that we are not alone! Social media has to be given credit for allowing us to be able to use the non-traditional means to express ourselves as opposed to face-to-face talks with those closer to us, which could be both limiting and uncomfortable as well!

Finally, I’d like to ask you a couple of question: Have you ever used social media for venting and trying to solve certain problems you are going through? Did it ever work for you?

Looking forward to hearing your feedback on this topic down below :)