Think good news gets buried in an avalanche of bad? That’s not so true anymore. Positive stories are being reported more often. Thanks to social media, upbeat stories are being read, forwarded, liked and tweeted at a robust pace.

“Researchers are discovering people want to create positive images of themselves online by sharing upbeat stories,” wites Eliana Dockterman of Time. “With more people turning to Facebook and Twitter to find out what’s happening in the world, news stories may need to cheer up in order to court an audience. If social is the future of media, then optimistic stories might be media’s future.”

Leading the charge is a website called Upworthy, which specializes in positive posts.

“When we started, the prevailing wisdom was that snark ruled the Internet,” says co-founder Eli Pariser. “We just had a really different sense of what works…You don’t want to be the guy at the party who’s crazy, angry and ranting in the corner—it’s the same for Twitter or Facebook. Part of what we’re trying to do with Upworthy is give people the tools to express a conscientious, thoughtful and positive identity in social media.” (Time)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife Wendy and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.