Digital Altruism: Using Social Media to Support Well-being
From cyberbullying to cyberporn, the media is constantly buzzing about the negative uses of the Internet. This focus on negativity is simply an old paradigm way of getting attention. We've all heard it said that "bad news sells," but as new paradigms increasingly take hold, "the world," as Bob Dylan put it, "is a chang'n." Today, good news is gaining ground; in fact, the digital landscape is saturated with positive activity. Far more people engage in acts of altruism on-line than we're commonly led to believe and it's high time we began talking about it. In fact, research in the area of "digital altruism" suggests that it's a growing phenomenon. Why should we care about the fusion of goodness and the Internet? Because a healthy society depends upon it: In the words of noted futurist, Barbara Marx Hubbard "we must see images of social wellness if we are to have the faith and courage to heal our society and grow."
Some of the best "good news" is that we can use our smart phones and computers to improve our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritualhealth, while simultaneously contributing to the creation of a healthy society. Many of us have already begun using our smart phones to encourage healthy habits, like keeping track of the miles we walk and monitoring our calories, but few realize the many ways we can use them to target our psychological wellbeing. Digital altruism is about making a conscious effort to do just that through using social media to support the development of character strengths and virtues.
Psychologists have studied character strengths and virtues for decades. Some of the most accessible research is that conducted by psychologists Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman. Their multi-year research resulted in the VIA Classification system, which identifies six classes of virtue, made up of twenty-four measurable character strengths. The classes and some of the character strengths include:
Some of the best "good news" is that we can use our smart phones and computers to improve our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritualhealth, while simultaneously contributing to the creation of a healthy society. Many of us have already begun using our smart phones to encourage healthy habits, like keeping track of the miles we walk and monitoring our calories, but few realize the many ways we can use them to target our psychological wellbeing. Digital altruism is about making a conscious effort to do just that through using social media to support the development of character strengths and virtues.
Psychologists have studied character strengths and virtues for decades. Some of the most accessible research is that conducted by psychologists Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman. Their multi-year research resulted in the VIA Classification system, which identifies six classes of virtue, made up of twenty-four measurable character strengths. The classes and some of the character strengths include:
- Wisdom & Knowledge: Strengths such as creativity and love of learning
- Courage: Strengths such as bravery and perseverance
- Humanity: Strengths such as love and kindness
- Justice: Strengths such as teamwork and leadership
- Temperance: Strengths such as forgiveness and humility
- Transcendence: Strengths that encourage connection and meaning such as appreciation of beauty, gratitude, hope, andhumor.
- http://www.psychologytoday.com
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