As a small business owner and social media manager for other business owners, I spend a lot of my time online doing a “job”: focusing on social media as it relates to things like reach, ROI, client retention, strategy, and sales.
But it’s nice to be reminded every so often of the human power behind social media, and how it can have such a positive effect on our lives.
My personal story starts with a local Florida friend, Cheri, whom I met many years ago when our children were young, and we were looking for other moms to connect with in our community. We spent several years together as members of a local Moms Club organization. As our kids got older, we stopped attending club events, and sadly, lost touch, as our lives were busy with older kids, jobs and the like.
When I started using Facebook in 2009, it was initially to keep an eye on my teenage daughters. But I soon realized it was also a great way to re-connect with local friends like Cheri, as well as family and friends from my hometown in Maryland.
Through our interaction on Facebook, I noticed another one of Cheri’s friends, Deneil, who lives on the other side of the country in California. Cheri “formally” introduced Deneil and I on Facebook, as she thought we would be a good online friend fit.
So here’s where it gets interesting: Deneil noticed my maiden name (Tracey), and asked where my family was from. When I told her my father’s family was from the Maryland/Pennsylvania area, Deneil did some research (as she is a geneology superstar!), while I took a look at some family tree documents in my files as well…and Deneil informed me that we are 6th cousins! How amazing is that?!
But that’s not the end of my story: my oldest daughter has decided to attend graduate school next Fall. She had been researching schools all over the country for the past year – I thought her top choices were in Colorado, Indiana, and North Carolina. She lives in Ft. Myers, Florida, while I’m in the Tampa area, so I haven’t been around her to know the details of the day-to-day search process.
My daughter applied and was accepted to several schools, and her final decision came down to two schools: one in Boston and one in California. She wanted to attend the student orientation at each one to make a final decision, and asked if my husband and I would like to go along (and of course, we said yes!).
Due to work schedules, we decided it was best to split up the trips: he went to Boston (where it was cold, snowy and rainy), and I went to California (where it was warm – with no humidity, and sunny). I think I got the better trip!
I have never been to California and had no idea where this graduate school was located. But guess what? The school is only 30 minutes from my cousin and friend Deneil! What a small world, in such a big state as California!
So even though we were only in town for a day and a half (which is not what I recommend when travelling across the country), I made sure to leave time to meet Deneil in person.
As we concluded our trip in California, my daughter made her decision, and is planning on attending the grad school out there. As a mom, I’m happy to know that I have a friend and family member close by who my daughter can call if she needs something. And I know my husband and I will be travelling out there at least several more times while my daughter attends school – which means I’ll get to see Deneil again!
Without social media, I may not have re-connected locally with Cheri, and I definitely would not have connected with and gotten to know Deneil. It’s been exciting to work with clients and customers through social media all over the country, and internationally, but it’s really something special to make a connection with a new friend and family member across the country in the same area as my daughter’s grad school!
It wouldn’t have happened without social media, and it’s one of the reasons I’m such a fan of the social networks that have become such a big part of our lives!
Do you have a good social media story to share? I’d love to hear it!