The Importance of Sharing Diverse Ideas: As Observed Through Social Media
*Disclamer: I am a paid employee of YAM, however I have chosen to write this article of my own volition for reasons I will outline below.
Let’s be honest, regardless of how you slice it, 2016 has been one roller-coaster ride of a year. As of now, (November 28th, 2016) we have seen the loss of several public figures and artists, including Prince, Muhammad Ali, and David Bowie. We have seen a rise in open displays of hate and bigotry. Not to mention the exhausting 2016 Presidential Election, which has left many terrified and uncertain of the future that lies ahead.
Personally, I never thought that the United States would encounter a division in my lifetime as great as the one we face now. Americans on both sides of the aisle are finding themselves more and more distanced from their fellow countrymen. In the face of a problem of such massive scale, there is an appeal in placing blame on others. But we must resist this urge and come together to connect, to engage our brains in discourse, to discover new ideas and ways of thinking. It is my assertion that the best way to do this quickly and efficiently is through social media.
Now it’s no secret that social media played a huge role in both the public perception and outcome of the 2016 presidential election. The algorithms used by Facebook, Twitter, etc. created an echo chamber of sorts and additionally, aided doling out information that was entirely false in attempts to undermine both liberal and conservative politicians. In this non-stop ecosystem that perpetuates the need to consume content, there is no doubt in my mind that the end product is fatigue and an overall jaded outlook on social media.
Despite our best efforts, social media has not only further cemented itself into our lives, but in many ways causes us to feel more disconnected and separated from the world around us. If the goal of social media is to bring people together, it has done so in the sense of making it easier to consume massive quantities of what I like to call, “life content.” But at least in my experience, there is a feeling of being that cultivates over time. When all you see are the best parts of a person’s life, it makes you question your own accomplishments, aspirations, and on the whole does more to hurt than to help.
Now you might be asking yourself, if social media is detrimental to mental health, then why would I want to split my time between yet another app? And this is a fair reaction to have, I have spent more than half of this article explaining how social media has lead to people becoming more divided, while under the illusion of connection. What could possibly be different from the current platforms that exist?
Allow me now to introduce YAM (You Ask Me) a video-based Q&A app that allows users to share their ideas, stories, and expertise. It takes platforms like Quora and adds in the intimate feature of connecting through video. For more information about the app and how it works I suggest checking out the article written by Michael Cho.
Since day one, the goal of YAM has been to give people a platform to get their stories out into the world. While we have been lucky enough to have influencers such as Caesar Millan and Tay Zonday join up with us, it is extremely important to our team that anyone can get a chance to reach an audience. For example, Abdulkhafi Alhamdo, an english teacher and reporter in Aleppo, Syria has been sharing his experience of day-to-day life in an active war zone. It has been absolutely heartbreaking to watch him elaborate on how he has managed to survive.
On the other aspect of the app, answering questions the community has been fantastic about being respectful of each others’ differences and opinions. Of course the YAM team anticipates the possibility of trolling as the app grows in both users and scope. We have done our due diligence to avoid harassment to users through the frameworks of the app. For example, we have made sure that questions are private, until answered by the person asked. Giving the user power over the questions and answers that are made public.
What I have found in my experience using YAM as both an employee and an active user, is that there is something truly remarkable to be found in how I feel after asking and answering questions. There is a level of engagement that I usually only find when getting involved in a classroom environment. I am constantly amazed by the new ideas and world views that I am discovering through asking and answering questions on YAM. There is something to be said about the power of exchanging ideas in an open environment that doesn’t coddle and force-feed one side of an argument.
At face value the future seems bleak and frustrating, but we as individuals have the power to change it. As long as we continue to strive for open and shared discourse of ideas we can prevail. All you have to do to change the way someone looks at an issue is by talking with them. So what are you waiting for?
Let’s YAM.