Amazing thing that happened on social media was we had a kiddo pass away unexpectedly, had a brain tumor that no one realized she had anyway. So family wasn't expecting that and didn't have anything to cover the expenses. So there's a GoFundMe that went around on Facebook and it they hit their goal amount which I believe was $5,000 in two hours and I think that's pretty amazing.
I've had a lot of positive experiences on social media with being able to share something that I love or that I like like sharing like a quote that I like or a picture that I like or like oh I really like these clothes or and just sharing it with other people and seeing like these other people like reach out to me and be like oh my goodness I love this and they go and buy it or they go and read it and it just kind of starts like a chain of like a positive reaction and so that's of why like I love it too like don't get me wrong there's lots of things I don't like about social media but I do love how you can share the good and it usually the good starts to get reposted and helps other people feel good.
So specifically through like YouTube and Instagram I've been able to connect with super cool channels for me that teach about the scriptures and help me like learn things that I would never know because these are people that literally have like a lot of them like like doctorates in like ancient like scripture study, ancient like near eastern like history kind of thing and also I've been able to see like that those teachings help me apply the scriptures better in my life and just find more purpose and more joy.
Something that I saw so much on my mission was that social media has so much possibility for good, that there's so much good that can be done with social media, but it's a tool that we have to use properly. And I also really came to see the world in a better light, as strange as that sounds. I think that we hear a lot of doom and gloom today on the news and in the media about the way that world's headed and the state of society, but I talked to random strangers on Facebook every day for like 30 minutes a day most of the time, and I found that most people are really nice, and most people are really kind, and I rarely, rarely met anyone that made me feel uncomfortable or that I felt unsafe talking to, and that just gave me a little more hope and humanity. So honestly, social media can be a really great, a great resource.
I've had really positive experiences on social media when it comes to my faith and my religion. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and there's been times where I've just really needed a pick-me-up, but I'm just like, I won't go out and go do something, like I just feel tired, so I just want to look on my phone. And I've had like posts from like my church pop up and with really great messages, and it's helped me feel so good, and like good to like get out and go do something. So there is a real positive influence on social media, if you look for it.
It might sound kind of strange, but my most positive experience on social media was when President Russell M. Nelson passed away. Just seeing like all of the garbage cleaned out of Instagram stories and Facebook and like no one was posting any of that stuff. People were just like reposting like posts about him and his life from the church's Instagram accounts. That was really special to see just all of my Instagram feed was President Nelson and the good life that he lived. So I love whenever the church or Jesus Christ or prophets or apostles are are all over my Instagram because it just uplifts me and makes me happy.
I honestly haven't really encountered that many negative experiences on social media. I've definitely had like my fair share of comparison and normal things like that but I have been able to find a way of using social media in a positive way and that's honestly just helping me to learn a lot of things. I feel like I'm constantly learning random facts that I guess I don't even need to learn. Like some history facts I may learn from like a short video, cooking things, baking things, like DIY stuff, creative ideas. I feel like there's so many things that I learn from it and once I start getting on that side of the algorithm, kind of changing up what I see and what I like, it's now become a positive experience most of the time for me when I go on social media.