Does Twitter Make You a Nicer Person?

Have you ever noticed how nice the Twitterverse truly is? I sat back and stared at my Twitter stream today, which is often a source of inspiration to me, and I just looked at all the niceness oozing out of my Tweetdeck.

No wonder I’m on Twitter so much. I want to live in my Twitter world much of the time (do I need professional help? :)) People are just so darn nice on Twitter. Everyone is respectful of each other and people value their friendships, sharing love and laughter all day long (of course there are a few exceptions to this, but not many that I can think of).

Do I just follow all the nice people or is this true for you too? It seems that on Twitter, we mind our manners and use common courtesy that is often forgotten in real life. It’s like a little Utopia living in my computer. Why is that? Does Twitter make us nicer people? We all know the saying, “Don’t tweet anything you wouldn’t put on a billboard for everyone to see.” Does Twitter make us more aware and accountable for our words, or is it just simply self-censorship?

I don’t know if Twitter makes me a nicer person, but it absolutely makes me more patient, understanding and tolerant. I always think twice before sending a tweet. I always take a moment to edit what I type if needed. I don’t put the same tender loving care into emails or even phone calls. I just don’t.

A year ago, Mashable published an article asking if social media as a whole makes us better people. You can read that article here. It is very interesting to me to reflect on how this has evolved even more just since that article was written last year. If we put as much care and love into our “real life” relationships as we do our Twitter relationships, would there be hope for peace on earth? Is it really possible that social media can mold and change the way we treat each other? I suppose only time will tell.

@mistygirlph put this video in one of her articles here on Bit Rebels, and I liked it so much, I wanted to include it here. Check out these social media stats, they are quite amazing.