Thank You, Social Media!

Life is astonishing. Be grateful for every tiny aspect of it!

Social technologies and Web 2.0 applications change us more than we realize. Internet access, connectivity, and social media have changed the landscape of  nearly everything we do.  In the blink of an eye, connections are formed, possibilities become realities, and new relationships are formed.

It’s become almost common that something created  or discovered at breakfast over a scan of a tweetstream can become a “can’t live without” tool by dinnertime.

It is important that in the midst of our daily digital lives, we take some time to realize how lucky we are. I look at my life in the last 24 hours, and none of it would have been possible even a decade ago.

Here’s what is astonishing to me:

I am actually creating this blog post while sitting in the back corner of  La Guardia International Airport.  It’s 8pm.  I love New York, but I am not supposed to be here right now. I am supposed to be home in Iowa where I am scheduled to give a virtual presentation to clients on the the East Coast.  (At least, that was the plan.)

Because of social media and a few strategic MacGyver moves , I found a quiet, “temporary office” right here on the backside of the terminal. (As long as I move  every 30 minutes or so when the elevator opens up with a new crew of passengers, it has served me.)

I am not going to miss work or this weeks deadlines because I am plugged in, hooked up, connected, and ready to stay productive.

Using my iPhone, iPad , and my MacBookPro, I am getting more work done here, than I would just about anywhere else in my house.  I have cleared through a pile of email, caught up on two days of reading, finished three  ebooks, and as luck would have it, I just got a text from my virtual travel app; Trip Advisor alerting me that “I GET TO” keep writing this blog post to you because I’m going to be here another two hours!

I’m accessing the Internet through through my USB card, so I can tweet, FB, and message my friends and family without worry of costs incurred. And, with a few clicks of a button this crazy story will go out to thousands of people who will be reading it from who knows where on who knows what.

Social media gives us the power to do magic things; things that could not have been done even five years ago. We are privileged beings. We have access to this amazing space, we can glean insight from the world’s greatest minds, and we can have life changing relationships with individuals who we may never have a chance to meet or work with face to face. If that is not worth a thank you every once in a while; I am not sure what is.

So, say WOW with me today! Let’s not let one another lose sight of the fact that we literally have the world at our fingertips. Give thanks to what we are capable of doing because of this thing we call Social Media.

Take just five minutes today and take stock of what social media has afforded you.

What are you most thankful for?

Do tell!

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