Smoke ‘Em if You’ve Got ‘Em

I’ve heard all the claims about the deleterious effects social media has on society. It doubles loneliness. It triples depression. I recently read an article in Forbes that claimed that social media has the same effect on our bodies as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. I guess I can blame Facebook for the fact that I’m short of breath all the time.

The U.S. Surgeon General also equated social media use to smoking. He was talking about the addictive nature of both. Okay, he probably has a point there. But hey, if you are going to be addicted to something, might as well make it something good, right? What’s wrong with being addicted to love or hooked on a feeling?

Read more: Smoke ‘Em if You’ve Got ‘Em

I really like social media, and here’s why – a few years ago, I went through my news feed and blocked anyone posting negative or politically charged comments. Nobody was off limits. Lifelong friends and family members got blocked if any of their posts brought me down or made me angry. Now, all I see are posts from friends bragging about their kids and sharing funny memes, and wishing each other Happy Birthday.

Because of social media, May is one of my favorite times of the year for one simple reason – graduation photos. All those people who grew up with me and walked across the stage with me at our graduation get to see their children graduate, and I get to see it too because of social media. And I do a double-take every time because it’s uncanny how much their children look exactly like their parents. I feel like I’m thrown back in time 30 years every time I click the “like” button.

The way I see it is social media is just a tool, and we aren’t using it very well. Do you know what else is a tool? A knife. Sure, you can use a knife to get mad and stab somebody, but that doesn’t make the knife a bad thing. A knife can also be used to heal. After all, a knife saved my daughter’s life. The surgeon practically worked miracles with a knife and repaired my little girl’s heart. Does a knife sound like a bad thing in that context? Audrey has had thirteen surgeries, and a knife was used every time. Without those knives, she wouldn’t be here.

And the reach of social media can be a good thing. I put up a ton of posts when we were in the hospital with Audrey. The comments and feedback we received made me feel like the world was in her corner, and I probably wouldn’t have felt that way without Facebook. During those months, social media performed emotional surgery on me instead of stabbing me.

So maybe we could all use this tool for good instead of stabbing the crap out of each other.

And since it is graduation season, allow me to help heal the world with pictures of this cutie pie.