Social media has the power to change the world.

If you want to cause panic or stir up chaos it’s easy. Nowadays all one has to do is send a false Tweet on Twitter and Bob’s your uncle!

Look at what happened yesterday with a Tweet that was posted about bombings at the White House and the President being hurt. Utter panic! The tweet was retweeted 3000 times within a few minutes before Twitter took it offline.

Gone are the days when one had to make a prank phone call and maybe reach one person who then had to inform someone else who then had to phone or walk/run to inform countless others!

Nowadays all one needs is a computer, a Twitter account and a bit of imagination.

Imagine all that energy being used for the power of good!

Now if only we could put all that creativity to good use. Imagine the possibilities!

We could inform people about power outages, local emergencies, those needing help, impending weather situations and so so much more. Earth Hour could be magnified with so many people being reached. The possibilities are endless.

The fast-moving, viral nature of Twitter has its perils, but it can also be used for good. Twitter highlights the impact of single tweets in its Twitter Stories series, tracking Tweets that go viral and result in positive impacts and happy endings.

Unfortunately however bad news travels faster and seems so much more appealing to our culture.

Maybe one day the good news will outweigh the bad. We can dream can’t we?

View the CNN video here to get the details on yesterdays fiasco.

Dawn Meysel hails from South Africa. Wife, Mother of Twins, lover of books, her bed, her family, her two Zen Masters (her cats) and chocolate. She’s astounded by love and grace, appalled at hatred and injustice. Intrepid seeker of Truth, student of the soul and spirituality, counselor, friend. She’s a novice student of yoga, a vegetarian, animal rights activist and non flakey in the nicest way! She lives by two mottos, “This too shall pass” and “Now, with God’s help, I shall become myself.”

Follow @elephantjournal on Twitter.