Letters: It's easy to blame social media for our ills. It's up to us to use it as a force for good

Big Issue readers react to stories on David Attenborough, Parkun, social media and more.

Social engineering

It’s easy to blame social media for much of our current ills. And it’s true that it has built-in addiction features we need to legislate against and be more aware of.  But it is we as users who need to develop ways of using it better. If, as a recent editorial reported, people spend more time following political rants than real friends, then let’s look at why that is. 

I curate my social media very carefully; use it only to follow people and ideas that I care about; avoid rage bait like the plague; only go on it in the evenings as recreation time. Generally I come away feeling happy, better informed and connected. So maybe we need more about how to use it as a force for good, and less about it as yet another inevitable harm that leaves us raging but impotent. We’re the consumers, so let us take back control of what is, after all, a product we’re choosing to engage with.

Sylvia Rose

Join the army

I’m in my mid-80s, live alone but near to my family and I volunteer. The charity I work for supports homeless people where my job involves sorting material from house clearances and donations that are sold for funds to keep the charity going. But volunteering day is more than just work. Into town with my old boy’s bus pass then coffee at my favourite cafe before buying Big Issue from the friendly seller. After work it’s a quick top-up at the supermarket. I have made friends on the bus, in shops, with Big Issue sellers and at work – other volunteers, former homeless people who also work there and the staff.

So volunteering is great. Why don’t you join this army and make a big difference?

Dave

Happy times

To Hamish Scott, the summer of ’76 and Knebworth concert are a distant memory for me too. 10cc was my highlight as, believe it or not, I fell asleep during the Stones performance, which may have been due to the many beers beforehand! Lynyrd Skynyrd and Todd Rundgren’s Utopia were also excellent. The rest of the bands I can’t remember. But it was hard getting back to the car park and trying to find my mates and a black car in a sea of other black cars in the middle of the night, when you’re drunk. Happy memories and terrible hangovers.

Mark Dowling (about 12 rows from the front on the left of the stage)

Creative genius

Excellent Big Issue this week, all about creative health and how it’s transforming health and wellbeing. Appreciated Professor Daisy Fancourt’s tips on simple ways to bring creative health activities into your summer, and hearing from Denise Harrison, author of Finding Rat Park. 

It also reminded me that I must plan a visit to the Southbank Centre soon!

Emily Kenneally 

Read more:

• Social media helped the far-right mobilise quickly – but it can also bring the rest of us together
• Banning social media for under-16s is not the answer
• How social media has changed our world

Birthday bonanza

The hero that is David Attenborough helped my local Big Issue seller Steve to have a bumper sales week. After David appeared on the cover in celebration of his 100th birthday, Steve sold out his magazines on several days and had to get more to keep up with demand!

@indiawoven_travel

Given the runaround

Lovely to see the editorial on running and Parkrun. What wasn’t mentioned is that local parkruns are established and staffed entirely by volunteers. Only 10% of runners ever volunteer to help run the events. Without generous volunteers the parkruns would not operate. We – two volunteers – are attempting to establish a junior parkrun in Colindale, North London. 

After multiple funding applications, and a lot of effort, we’ve managed to get the funding (£4,800) that the parkrun organisation requires to start up a run. Now we have the hurdle of finding volunteers and that’s proving as difficult as getting the funding. Maybe we need an incentive along the lines of RockCorps – another great article in this issue.

Naomi Stanford

Music to my ears

What a succinct, insightful article was that of Trevor Baglin [in Issue 1717, 11-17 May]. When a note, a cadenza or part of a song resonates and pierces our soul producing an ecstasy beyond any words, we experience what it is to be human and share in a quality all humanity, rich or poor high or low, can experience.

Malcolm Craig, Preston

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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