The Other Side of Social Media

I've often found myself needing to take moments away from all platforms. Sometimes, we need a break from all the "happiness" we see posted on line. A moment to just "be" in the place that we're in, without all the damn noise that others are making. To be still and quiet. Time away from all the negativity and pressures that the internet can bring.

Yet, there are times, when the place that sometimes validates our insecurities and lack of perfectionism also provides a life-line.

Social media is both a monster and a miracle. We know the damage it can do—the bullying, the comparison traps, the way it can hollow you out and leave you feeling like nothing you do is enough. But we don’t talk enough about what it can do to save us.

Because sometimes, when you’re drowning, when your world is unraveling in real time, social media can be the thing that reaches in and catches you.

There are days when the weight of the world feels unbearable—when your thoughts spiral, when your chest tightens, when the silence of your struggle is deafening. And then, by chance, you scroll. You stumble upon a post, a quote, a story, a video—something that speaks to you like it was written just for you.

It doesn’t fix everything. It doesn’t erase the pain. But for a moment, it gives you air to breathe. It reminds you that you’re not alone. That someone, somewhere, knows what it’s like to be where you are.

Social media can be toxic, but it can also be a life-line. It can remind us that we belong, that we are seen, that we are heard. That even in our darkest moments, words—strangers’ words—can find us and pull us back into the light.

Not always in the way you expect.

Not in the form of someone messaging you to check in, or a perfectly written comment that fixes everything. But in a random post that you had no intention of reading. A sentence you didn’t know you needed. A video that makes you laugh when you haven’t smiled in days. A stranger’s story that mirrors your own, reminding you that you’re not the only one fighting invisible battles.

Social media gives us the ability to steal a little strength from each other. To borrow hope. To see someone put words to something we thought only we felt and think, God, I thought it was just me.

That is its greatest power.

We get to choose how we use our words in this space. We can use them to hurt, to divide, to make people feel small—or we can use them to lift, to inspire, to hold space, and to remind someone who’s barely holding on that they can get through this.

Because maybe today, the words that save someone won’t come from their best friend or their family. Maybe they’ll come from you. From a post you wrote without thinking twice. From something you put into the world not realizing it would be exactly what someone needed to hear.

Social media is a tool, and like all tools, it depends on how we use it. So, let it be the responsibility of all of us to use are words for good, for hope, for light.

Because every time you post something, you may be saving a life - theirs and yours.