In what ways would you describe social media as a GOOD thing?

For me, it's been a good thing since it helped me find all sorts of people I had lost track of over the years.  Now, we can all keep in touch much easier.

It can be a bad thing because we all spend way too much time online.  Especially for young people who don't know anything else ... we're losing a lot of our interpersonal skills.  You really don't know someone until you spend quality time with them .. in person IMO.   This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at January 27, 2019 10:12 PM MST

For many it becomes the family they never had or no longer have:)  It becomes a bad thing when we allow people to bully others and publicly shame them in front of the whole world! This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at January 27, 2019 9:58 AM MST

This is the only social media I participate in. The others, to me, one good thing...it keeps others busy so they'll leave me alone. Another is they make for funny videos when people run into things while walking in public. A bad thing? It makes people stupid.

Connecting with old friends.


Everything else.

Social media is great. It's the people running social media that are stupid.

Hello there Don
I can appreciate the benefits of Social media sites. It does provide a connection to others that otherwise may not be convenient or even possible.
I have found being able to share events and pictures with family and friends who reside in distant places to be fun and very convenient. There are also many societal benefits as well, providing an easy, more accessible place to raise money, seek volunteers and resources. etc.
The downfalls of social media , to me are many.
Communication is far more expansive then just words written. When speaking face to face there are so many things that are communicating, the inflection in our tone, our hand and body movement, whether we are smiling or snarling, looking into the others eyes or looking away, how much space we are keeping, etc. Experiencing all the facets of communication helps us learn to adapt our behavior in social situations when dealing with the reactions of others.
For me, words should be deliberate and chosen with care. Some words are , and very well should be very powerful in their description, if we use them cavalierly, they lose their power and meaning. words should be reserved for their true meaning. It seems that is an art which is slowly dying.
Conversation, it seems is being replaced with emoji's, meme' and text speak. I cant think of a time when I have been talking with someone who, when making a joke I cried out LOL, or excused my self from a table with a "BRB". I have seen evidence of vocabulary becoming quite limited.
There is cyber bullying, cowards saying things they would probably never say to your face because the lack of consequence is too easy.
There is also the "digital footprint" left behind and issues of privacy. 
I think " social-media-ing" does promote a certain fashion of laziness, we do not have to present ourselves well. When I invite friends to the house for some socializing I have to see that the house is clean and comfortable, I usually will prepare some food and drink, I make sure I am presentable and inviting. We as a group must be respectful of each other, their talents, their thoughts and during those times disagreement is found, we do not get lost in that. Compare that to being on-line, one can sit down on the john, call someone an idiot while attempting to exhibit their sense of self-intelligence and then log out..Not quite the same experience...and I think the cost to "community" is high.

Good thing - puts people in touch with one another.

Bad thing - people tend to use it as a substitute for real relationships and real knowledge.