I want to ask you a seemingly simple question: Have you thought about what you can do to combat the dark side, or negativity, of the current social media landscape? Or put another way, what can we, as human beings, do to increase the good side of the polarity that exists within our current culture, especially within social media?
Today, several of us got together to discuss the challenge of negativity across social media assets. It seems like negative tweets get 10 times the shares and likes of positive tweets, which is a problem. The leader of this discussion, Joel, posed the idea that artificial intelligence may be the problem behind the trend. He asked, “If AI is monitoring twitter, and relating the result of this monitoring, we could be building––through artificial intelligence/machine learning––a primarily negative society?”
[tweetthis]How can Doers promote positivity within social media?[/tweetthis]One sage in the group, Lee, chimed in with the idea that everything has a dark side, but that it usually exists in polarity with equal good. But this begs the question, where is the equal good going to come from? Is there anything this group can do to stimulate the good?
The deeper we got into this thought process, quite frankly, the scarier it got. Then it hit me… Today’s Doers know positive employees and mission driven employees are happier and more productive. It’s scientifically proven that it feels good to give. It feels good to be positive. Because of this, companies that are purpose driven are getting the best talent, and accomplishing extraordinary things. I breathed a sigh of relief with this realization.
But the conversation went on and I could see Joel’s wheels turning, and I wasn’t sure if I should be concerned or happy that he was so engaged. Later, he told me that at the time he determined that if he was aware of this negativity overtaking the good in the social consciousness, then he had to do something about it. Of course that is what he thought! He is a Doer! But Joel, like many of us, wasn’t exactly sure what to do. One of the junior sages, an incredibly accomplished young millennial named Spencer, chimed in that ambassadors for good could be like sponsored athletes, a concept that we all found intriguing.
[tweetthis]If negativity is overtaking social media, then we should do something about it. [/tweetthis]This whole conversation started me thinking about a blog I shared back in January about Doers blocking out the “noise.” I thought about how naive I was to think that even if we are able to block out the noise, artificial intelligence is still going to accentuate the negative because, well, that’s what we are teaching it to do. So the negative noise will continually be encouraged and get louder, possibly no matter what we do to combat it. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything we can to perpetuate the good side of things, to put forward a positive polarity as counterpoint to the negativity.
Take a moment to think about the emotions this conversation about negativity and positivity stirs up in you. What recommendations would you make to Joel and team for change? Would you like to be part of this conversation? Would you start your own conversation with those in your circle?
So I will ask you again, what can you, as a Doer, do to make sure you are a positive leader, a giving leader, and one that rewards your people for doing good? How will you make sure that your family and friends have a positive and kind side to them that can be accelerated and encouraged? How will you perpetuate a positive polarity?
Get your good on––
AZ