Retooling for Wellbeing

Abstract

The human mind and community life are today delicately intertwined through the experience of mass and social media. Media, as one of the cornerstones of modern life, provides innovative tools for improving the wellbeing and flourishing of a population. Because of its reach (traditional media) and interactive character (new social media), it is able to address a wide range of topics as well as target and reach a broad audience. The media approach, anchored in concepts of positive thinking at the individual level, and empowerment and participation at the community level, becomes a powerful ally for the improvement of people's wellbeing. Mass media's impact on attitudes towards mental health has received research attention, but the use of media to improve the wellbeing of a population has been less actively pursued. Yet, as market analysts have shown, the target for such information is vast and diverse, encompassing an enormous global need and market for lifestyle information. TV , radio, Internet, and new social media platforms may be specifically designed to engage populations and promote mental health and wellbeing and encourage people under diverse circumstances to actively use and communicate through media. In this approach the social media intervention itself is shaped interactively, in a context of mutual learning, so that the user/community is not just “the object” of the production but a coproducer. The role of media in agenda setting is key. This chapter aims to encourage positive psychology to engage populations, embed positive psychology in community‐based interventions, and employ various forms of media to influence wellbeing. As illustration, I have selected two outstanding examples of the use of media, one demonstrating a pioneering mass media interventions aimed at depression in San Francisco in 1978 and another a successful, socially embedded mixed‐media approach following the ethnic violence in 2007 in Kenya. Both may serve as models for a population‐based approach in positive psychology.