Really We Just Want To Be Poked!

Social media is my life. I'm always on the lookout for the hottest trends, the newest developments, and what people are buzzing about. It is after all, my job to reach the masses with information. There's no better way to learn than by figuring out "what the people want."

I recently had a very personal experience with social media that I felt pertinent to share. My grandmother passed away. I had just flown back to California from Boston, after visiting over a vacation. I was home for not even a week, and I had to fly back East. When I got the, news (via old fashioned telephone) at about 2 AM EST (around 11 PM California time), I don't need to describe the obvious emotions that were going through me at the time, but I was close to my grandmother and no matter where I was, it was hard.  

 In my grandmother's 88 years, I'm not sure she could have imagined people getting news out faster in a tiny box on a screen, than a newspaper or telephone. Hers was a generation that kept to themselves, and would have never thought to advertise their every thought, emotion and activity for the world to see. But, I put a post on my Facebook page dedicated to my grandmother, informing my "friends" of her passing and left my computer open all day. As comments came in with people offering their condolences, I felt so much comfort and peace. Even people who didn’t know my grandmother understood the relationship between grandparent and grandchild and for me that meant something.   

When someone passes away people usually don't know what to do, and offer, "Let me know if you need anything." The only thing I needed, being 3,000 miles away, was to feel connected. I imagined what the experience would have been like without all the technology that is at my fingertips, even 20 years ago when cell phones were rare and wireless internet seemed like it was a concept for The Jetsons.

Although it sounds incredibly sappy, getting "instant" sympathy smoothed my experience of grief, and made it easier to do what I needed to do to fly home.

While social media can be tricky, it might flood us with too much information, it has become a tool of everyday life that, when used correctly, enhances our human experience in bringing us closer together.