Social media has become the mecca for griping. People complain about stories in the news, politics, schools, other people, their weight, their finances and even their kids' misbehaviors. Somehow typing it and getting "likes" makes people feel better about their life.
The truth, however, is that making change requires action and that updating your status is not action.
Take weight loss, for example. If I sit on my couch watching The Biggest Loser while eating four scoops of Rocky Road and then update my status about how I wish I could lose the weight... I haven't actually DONE anything to make that desire come to fruition.
If I ask people on Facebook how to get my 6-year-old to stop making an appetizer from his boogers and then choose to continue to watch the disgusting habit because I feel better knowing that others are dealing with the same nastiness... I haven't actually done anything to change the behavior. (And, by the way, this truly is a current battle, so if you have two cents on it, I'd love to hear it.)
The invention of smartphones certainly hasn't helped either. Now we don't even have to filter ourselves until we get to a computer, we can just immediately post about the idiot driver, the rude customer or how a friend just stabbed us in the back. Realistically, the time we used to take to cool our emotions before responding made our society a better place.
Griping about politics is NOT the same things as casting a ballot or even campaigning for the person you believe in. Raising awareness about an issue at your school and hoping someone else is uphaled enough to do something about it is not near as effective as coming up with a positive solution yourself.
When was the last time you saw a problem and then did something proactive to address it? How did it work out for you?