A recent New York Times article began with two old adages of news media: ‘If it bleeds, it leads’ and ‘No news is good news and good news is no news’. By now, I think we’re all familiar with the popularity and high ratings of bad news.

In the same NYT article, John Tierney cites surprising research findings that contradict what the news media has believed, and led us to believe, all along. When the public has the opportunity to spread news on their own it is primarily good news. Research on social media, email, and even face-to-face conversation proves this.

So we have to recognize, on this Thank You Thursday, Facebook and Twitter among others, social media in general, and ALL of you who are happily spreading good news!