Editorial: Sometimes the glass is half full

Kim Gillespie

I read an interesting column by New Zealand Herald reporter David Fisher this week entitled 'Life is meant for living, not tweeting'.

It detailed the reasons he recently killed his Twitter account - an account I enjoyed following and a very active one.

Twitter - a micro-blogging social media tool - has grown into a huge community within the greater community.

It has its own celebrities, villains and sweethearts, and gives anyone and everyone a voice - which is both a wonderful and terrible thing.

For David it had become too much. And he makes a compelling argument about the ultimate meaninglessness of it all when compared with real life - though I'll keep my account for now.

But I bring the column up because I was reminded yesterday of Twitter's ability to look at a glass of water, and not see it as half empty, but completely empty.

New Zealand was this week rated first in the world when it comes to social progress.

The Washington-based think-tank Social Progress Imperative put this country first for political rights, such as freedom of speech and private property rights and personal freedom and choice.

New Zealand also scores among the top four countries for water and sanitation, access to schooling and to advanced education, and tolerance and inclusion.

It's a fantastic endorsement of our way of life, but was a surprise to many. Possibly because their view of New Zealand life is shaped by an overwhelmingly negative social media juggernaut that lives to criticise and belittle.

The social progress report wasn't all good news - New Zealand definitely needs to work on its nutrition and basic medical care as well as health and wellness. We already know there are major issues with child abuse, suicide and obesity in this country. There's also what's seen as a growing gap between rich and poor.

But let's not lose sight of the fact that lil' ol' New Zealand has been ranked the most socially advanced country in the world.

There are areas to improve - all countries have those - but our cup is at least half full. I'm off to tweet about it.

- Follow @dailypostedkim on Twitter.