Ten Self-Care Tips for Faith-Based Activists

3)      Stop Sharing ONLY Negative Stories

I know there’s a debate over the sharing of negative stories and images on social media. Does showing heart-wrenching news stories and images makes people want to act to change things for the better Or does it lead to more depression?

I personally feel we’ve been oversaturated with negative and heart-wrenching stories in the U.S., Syria, Palestine and other parts of the world. We simply skim over the images and stories instead of processing them like we really should.

The unfortunate consequence of oversaturating our social media feeds and emails and conversations with heart-wrenching stories and images is the numbing of our hearts. It also can demoralize us and make us feel powerless and hopeless with changing the situation. For this reason I’m of the opinion of if you truly want to raise awareness about an issue, by all means share a heart-wrenching story or image, but provide a solution to the problem.

Simply sharing the heart-wrenching stories and images over and over won’t solve the problem, nor will it improve the morale of the Muslims or make them feel like they can make a difference. This is counterintuitive and unproductive, although our intention may be to raise awareness and call people to action.