By Henry Haney*
In today’s world, social media is ubiquitous. While we all know to some degree what social media is, what purpose(s) does it serve?
Social media users ask that question quite often, whether it’s when they upload a photo to Instagram, watch foreign policy conducted live via Twitter, or hop on TikTok to see how Generation Z is navigating the Internet.
As many of us are passing the days inside our homes, either on lockdown or by practicing social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we turn to social media to stay informed and entertained. But social media can already be a time suck, and after refreshing Twitter for the third time in ten minutes, it’s easy to view browsing as a mindless chore we feel compelled to use because it’s there in front of us.
Changing the way you use social media
So, how do you give purpose to your time spent on social media? One possible way is by electing to choose social media that allows for growth and productive engagement and has core values at heart.
Take LinkedIn, for example—nobody goes on LinkedIn for mindless browsing like they may with Twitter or TikTok. LinkedIn is a platform meant for networking and for professional updates and news. On it, users can research companies, forge connections and apply to jobs, as well as browse relevant articles and multimedia content posted by users.
Wondr: a platform for positive change
Social media platforms designed to streamline content concerning several, related topics have the ability to bring purpose to your browsing. Wondr, an up-and-coming platform based out of the UK, does just that. It styles itself as a platform for crowdsourcing knowledge to generate positive change, particularly in the realm of social and environmental impact.
While scrolling through your activity feed or perusing the discovery page, you can save anything that catches your interest, from posts on slow, sustainable travel by train through Europe, or a project compiling online environmental courses, as well as follow people and projects.
On Wondr, you can mark a post as “helpful,” a subversion of the more common “like” feature found on other social media sites. Through its intuitive interface, you can quickly put together categorized content that keeps you up to date on socio-environmental issues and innovations and offers advice for making sustainable lifestyle adjustments.
Wondr is dedicated to promoting the interchange of socio-environmental ideas, resources and news, although the content extends beyond that related to the environment. It is a platform whose features generate an environment of sharing and learning and allow for the exchange of ideas between communities.
As you do your part to minimize the spread of Covid-19, Wondr provides the opportunity to turn engagement into improvement and join a growing community of individuals set on generating positive change.
*Henry Haney is a freelance writer based in North Carolina who writes stories with a particular focus on community environmental issues.