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For anyone who is aged 22 up to 40, here is a call to action:
Stop the spread of the disease COVID-19 by spreading the news on social media.
Here’s why that message is so important. You are likely in good health. I know you work hard and you’re stuck renting an apartment. There are a lot of concerns in life and you are vocal about them. Your student debt is mounting. Home prices are soaring. These are real, long-term, and almost insurmountable issues.
Can you set them aside for the time being?
As Millennials, you are tech-savvy and know the difference between a post and a story on Instagram. You are powerfully equipped to spread accurate information about the coronavirus. You have the ability to inform and educate.
And, there are a few things you can do right now.
One is to inform people that it’s not wise to congregate in public. I won’t get into the actual health-related specifics, because the data is readily available from the CDC, but the basic summary is: stop going to bars and restaurants. Chipotle can wait. The chain will survive just fine. Also, stay six feet away from people when you do go in public for now. Don’t go out at all if you feel sick.
This is not just about elderly people, who tend to become infected more easily. Those who have immune deficiencies are also susceptible, and they can be any age.
This is also not about blaming people for going out in public when that is obviously not smart. This is about taking up a new cause. Will you help spread accurate information on social media right now to inform others? How about a video on TikTok? An Instagram story? A few tweets?
Literally anything you can do helps.
And to show that I’m going to address this problem myself, I’m going to start using my own Twitter and LinkedIn feeds to raise awareness as well. In fact, from now on I plan to avoid posting any articles or other content (e.g., jokes) and focus on news and information about blocking the spread. I plan to post daily.
My question for you is — what matters more right now? Social media is a colossus. It has incredible power to sway opinions, to impact elections — to help others.
Forget hashtags and quirky posts. I’m talking about long captions encouraging your followers to stay home and why that’s important. I’m talking about sharing links so that all of your followers won’t miss the facts.
They might not check CNN, but perhaps they will see your tweet.
Maybe you are too busy. I get that. I’m concerned about family members right now and I’m distracted. I don’t want to see the economy crumble, either. And yet, what really needs to happen is for millions of Millennials (and Gen Z) to talk to each other. To educate each other. To inform and enlighten. Make it impossible for people in your age group to avoid this topic.
It starts now.