Results: The Power Of Social Media

Tonee Carter plays piano in a corner of Atlanta's airport, Concourse A, and has been doing so for almost seven years. While on a layover, Thursday, Instagram influencer and motivational speaker Carlos Whittaker stopped by to listen to Carter play, and struck up a conversation. Carter shared his story, telling Whittaker that he has played at the airport for years, but its been harder lately because his kidneys are failing. Whitaker shared Carter's story with his nearly 200,000 followers, asking them to tip Carter through apps Venmo and CashApp. Within just a few hours, complete strangers had raised over $60,000. Whittaker documented the whole thing on Instagram, sharing people's generous tips and updates on how much he had raised as an unaware Carter played in the background. When Whittfield finally told him, Carter seemed at first to not believe him, then burst into tears. Have you seen social media being used to change someone's life like this story?

For many people, one of the big casualties of the pandemic was the ability to spend quality time with friends. And for anyone who was already experiencing isolation and loneliness, the last year and a half of lockdowns has been especially hard. After facing the worsening effects of loneliness herself, Laura Sniderman created an online community called 'Kinnd' to help create meaningful friendships designed to last beyond the pandemic. The social media platform connects people looking for friends, not specifically romantic relationships, and can range from workout buddies to travel companions, to just someone to talk to. The interest in the 8 months the site has been running was phenomenal, and she hopes now, with people socializing more, it will continue to connect people. Have you ever used social media online resources to find friends?

Not all uses of social media are positive, of course. Due to the way social media works, misinformation can spread as fast, if not faster, than wildfire. Social media influencers in France with hundreds of thousands of followers say a mysterious advertising agency offered to pay them if they agreed to smear Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine with negative fake stories. French YouTuber Leo Grasset was among those contacted. He was offered a potentially lucrative deal to make bogus claims that Pfizer's vaccine poses a deadly risk and that regulators and mainstream media are covering up the supposed dangers. Of course, one of the conditions is that he not reveal his "sources". Have you seen any misinformation shared on social media designed as "news stories"?