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We talk about social media and its power to connect companies with their consumers. We explore the impact of getting down from the pulpit and standing side by side with your organization’s advocates and detractors.
Most of us are out here, teaching and learning because it’s part of what we do for a living. We do it with heart, but with a practical eye on the prize too.
And we remind everyone that it’s about the people. The listening. The authenticity. And boy is it.
Sometimes this social media stuff knocks me to my knees. It strips away everything but what really matters.
I don’t know Susan Reynolds in the traditional sense. We’ve never shared a meal or heard each other laugh. But I know her. I’ve followed Susan Reynold’s blog for some time. I love her humor and insights. Then, I connected with her on Twitter. I was rocked when a couple weeks ago, Susan shared that she had found a lump in her breast. Breast cancer has done a number on my family (like most) and I have a particular hatred for it.
Susan, with her usual style, decided to create a blog to share her story. One of the first tales she told was that she used a bag of frozen peas to ease the pain after her biopsy. Suddenly, in an act of support and solidarity at the suggestion of Connie Reece, people started changing their Facebook and Twitter avatars to what is now known as a pea-tavar. (see mine above).
In Susan’s words:
People who I am connected to through twitter have given me referrals, done research for me, baked for me, cheered for me, knitted for me, prayed for me, shared their stories with me, rallied around me, and started a fundraising campaign for the American Cancer Society in my name.
Tomorrow, Susan goes into surgery knowing that an entire worldwide, pea pod of people are there with her in spirit.
The majority of the world is still looking at applications like Twitter, Facebook and even blogging with great skepticism.
But I have to tell you…tonight when I think about social media, I’m not thinking about business or clients at all. I’m thinking about a woman who had the courage to share her very personal journey and how a community of support has welled up to surround her.
Tonight, social media humbles me with its compassion, ability to connect and the depths of human kindness it can share.