A personal journey into the healing powers of “social”
Ok, so this post is going to be a little different. It is about a personal journey that illuminates the powers of social media in today’s world. When a crisis like this happens in your life, the “results” from social networks are simply amazing – and immeasurable.
Casual user turned passionate social advocate
Like many business professionals, I participate in a number of social networks and media. I primarily use my Facebook for family and LinkedIn for professional relationships. At IMS we are proactively using Facebook pages, blogs and Twitter to connect with clients, prospects and colleagues about our work and findings.
As the name of this blog would indicate, we are passionate about measuring the results of all our marketing, especially social media. But, nothing prepared me for what happened this past week.
What do you do when your 25 year old daughter has a stroke?
As is often the case, I had my phone on silent while in meetings with a client last Friday. So, I had missed the frantic call from my wife about my youngest daughter having a stroke … A STROKE! That’s supposed to happen to “old people”, not your child.
What happened on the 3 hour drive back was nothing short of amazing. I started receiving multiple Facebook messages. Text messages had already arrived on my phone before I picked up the voice message from my wife. Email also came pouring in … from everywhere as a result of seeing things on social networks.
When it’s your daughter who had a stroke, you immediately start plugging into networks to find information and resources. There would have been no way to quickly make all of these connections through phone calls.
What triggered all of this was a simple, short Facebook post from my eldest daughter to pray for the wellbeing of her sister. This simple message rippled through all of the interconnected social networks. In the case of emergencies and crises, nothing can beat the power and speed of social networks for alerts and instant communication.
The immeasurable healing powers of social networks!
I’m happy to report that my 25 year old daughter is out of danger and recovering. Her challenge is loss of speech. But, a 25 year old brain has incredible powers to “re-wire circuits”.
The rest of the story is the amazing role that social networks have played in her recovery process. Even the day of the stroke, my daughter was able to text with her left hand. She was immediately in contact via smartphone and receiving loving support from family and friends. Once the “word” was out, there was a groundswell of support from social networks multiplied many times over.
Personal testimony … I can’t begin to measure my gratitude
I am personally overwhelmed by the response from family, friends, colleagues and even casual acquaintances. Thanks to all. There is simply no way to “measure” what has happened these past six days and how much social networks have provided personal and family support during this difficult time.
I simply don’t have any “stats”. I didn’t even think about them. But, here are some samples of the real power of social networks and what it has meant to help get me through this trying time:
· Within hours people setup prayer chains for my daughter
· People created connections to the best specialists in the country
· I have received messages and support from all over the world, especially from my safari friends in Africa
· People I don’t even know sought me out to send personal messages of hope and support
· A very special person, that I have met in person only once, offered to fly across the country to come manage things, so I could focus on my daughter
These things are immeasurable … the true value of being “social” is to connect with the people that make all the difference. Thanks to all!
If you did not “know” that all of this happened this past week … My Bad! I have not been as social as my daughters. They say parents can get smarter if they learn from their kids. I have learned firsthand the power of social networks to connect with people that really matter.
If you haven’t invested in “social”, do it for yourself & family. In this world we are as only as good as the people in our networks.
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Chris, I really enjoyed reading this post. I'm glad Danielle is recovering. I have been avoiding joining all the social networks because I don't want to spend the time, but this is a very good reason to be well connected!
Posted by: Jessica Smith | September 20, 2010 at 01:55 PM