It feels like we’re always being warned about the dangers of social media; how it makes us less sociable, more depressed, distracted and lazy. Whilst there’s obviously some truth to those elements, being connected to millions of people online does have some significant advantages.

There are countless opportunities for good, for spreading joy and gospel and love and hope. The forgotten vital truth about social media is that we provide the content. There’s no centralised source, like other websites. We choose what we see and what we share. If you’re always complaining that your timeline or news feed is filled with negativity, then ask yourself: “Am I contributing to it?”

“Give us examples!” I hear you cry. Well, my pleasure. Here’s some suggestions for filling your feeds, and therefore the feeds of your friends/followers with good things:

Share a CBN READ article. Come on, you knew this was coming. We’ve got loads of articles about faith, culture, life and family. Next time you read a good one, it’d mean the world to us if you shared it and who knows, it could really impact someone else too?

Share the Bible. Although this is becoming a bit of a cliche (do Bible reading, post picture so that everyone knows how spiritual you are…), the power of sharing God’s Word cannot be underestimated. Posting a Scripture is a great way to impact people. The Bible App and the HeReadsTruth/SheReadsTruth provide really great images for you to post too.

Be thoughtful with what you ‘like’. Your ‘likes’ come up on other people’s newsfeeds. This applies to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. So, when you ‘like’ something positive, we get to enjoy it too. When you ‘like’ something negative, you’re passing that along too. Just remember that next time you see someone’s political rant.

Be an encouraging voice. If you see someone is hurting, reach out. If you see someone asking for donations for a good cause, why not forego today’s coffee and donate? If you watch a video that moves you or encourages you (perhaps made by CBN Europe, just saying…) then repost it. Your voice matters and influences, so use it!