Social Media has completely revolutionized the way we communicate. Every day our world becomes smaller and smaller, sometimes quite uncomfortably so. Once upon a time I used to write handwritten letters and send greetings cards for various occasions. Today writing letters by hand happens only when I have absolutely no other options left. Laziness? Perhaps. But it’s more for convenience than anything else.

Today my life mostly revolves around social media: I have Facebook, Twitter and Flickr accounts. Not too long ago I also had Friendster and Bebo. Whatever was ‘in’ at the time, I had it. There has been a lot of debate about people’s reliance on these sites, and how detrimental it can be to your mental (and even physical) health. Some argue that it actually makes you anti-social to a certain extent because you tend to hide behind a computer rather than make that effort to get out there and meet people the “normal” way. Yes, it can be all those things. But to me, social media has been nothing but a blessing. Let me break it down for you:

* I moved to Vancouver over a year ago and instead of losing touch with most of my friends and family (which in the past was the inevitable outcome to such a move), I didn’t, and today it almost seems like I never left: Facebook let me keep everyone (collectively – ain’t it awesome?!) back home, and all over the world, up-to-date vide status updates and pictures, on the things that are going on in my life right now; it’s as if they’re right there with me experiencing it too.

* I managed to track down and re-connect with people I haven’t spoken to in over 10 years. Old schoolmates and even people I had gone on tour once in 2000. Back in the day that would’ve been almost impossible to do. But I didn’t have that much trouble at all. First name, last name, click – and voila! There they are, all happy and well!

* I have learned innumerable things that I would never have been able to reach otherwise without these tools; the wealth of information out there is astounding! I have joined various groups on Facebook, and those closest to my heart are the ones that address animal rights. Groups such as StubbyDog Project & Dollys Foundation are aimed to rescue, advocate and educate people on the true nature of pitbulls, a breed that has been slaughtered in the media time and time again; had I not connected with them first and been corrupted by misconceptions (coming from outside of North America I had very little knowledge on the breed), I probably would’ve ran at the sight of a pitbull instead of smile with excitement. I have personally watched (virtually anyway) many countless animals be saved, rescued, fostered and re-homed through connections with amazing people all over the world. Look how people have come together for ‘Patrick the Miracle’ and how ‘Urgent PART 2’ has shed light on the shameful things the AC&C are doing. One of my favorite group page, ‘Sleeps with Dogs’ is not even some non-profit organization with a cause, it’s about a journalist who is using her talents to share her wonderful life with her beautiful dogs with the world. And by doing that she is inadvertently teaching people tolerance, spreading love and motivating people like me to do better in life so I can one day have that exact same type of loving household.

* Twitter is more far reaching than Facebook is; I have met people from all over the world on there! Received information that I would never have gotten on my own, helped support causes by spreading the word, and of course, raved and ranted about really trivial things. It’s like you’re never alone; you have friends 24/7. I have friends for my various interests – I have friends I talk to about music, then another set for animal causes, and most recently, friends I could talk to, cheer with & learn from, about my new found love for hockey! Go Canucks Go! (I watched replays on youtube too!) And being the lucky girl that I am, I’ve got friends I can talk to about all those things! The funny thing is some say that spending so much time on the net can make you anti-social, but for me it has had the opposite effect – I find myself being friendlier and more open to meeting new people, online and off it!

* I love photography and though I don’t spend enough time learning the craft, I still do hope to one day be able to devote my time and my attention to that one passion of mine. In the meantime, I just take pictures. The great thing is? I get to share them! On Facebook, Twitter and more recently, Flickr. I not only get to share with people what I’ve seen, but I get critiques from people in the business too, something that would’ve cost me $$$ to get otherwise.

Yes, social media can be dangerous, it can be misused, and it can be a tad bit annoying especially when you’re trying to avoid that one person (okay, maybe more than one) from high school that you really never wanted to see or speak to ever again. And as much as it can bring good people together, it can also bring the bad ones together that much easier. But like everything in life, there are pros & cons. At the end of the day, you really have to use your head and practice common sense, such as not posting personal information that can be used by identity thieves; not educating yourself on the privacy settings available for your account; and posting every single detail about your personal life (In a relationship – Single - In a relationship - It’s complicated!!!). Just remember, if it’s something you don’t want your relatives, boyfriend, girlfriend, managers, colleagues, to know about – DON’T post it. Funnily enough, I have never really taken to blogs though, probably because I’m just happy to talk about my life in 140 characters or less!

I believe I was born in the right era. I can barely remember what my life was life before discovering this new virtual world. I’m not fully converted of course. I do still prefer to send beautiful greeting cards to e-cards; real, fragrant flowers to floral images; vacations to various destinations in the world to virtual reality type of vacations, because really, those are things that just cannot be replaced. But I do know I love the integration of my real life with the virtual, and I would never trade it for anything else! Well, not permanently anyway… but in the meantime, where’s my damn iPhone….