Okay– so some of you may have noticed I’ve been playing with social media these days. Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr– there are ways of simul-posting on these things so one post = maximum exposure, and I guess that’s what it’s all about.
I’m not great at it yet–I’ll grant you–but I’d forgotten one of the great things about social media that makes me want to try harder.
I mean, social media is not always great. Let’s face it–Twitter helped build the monstrous traitorous abominable shitbird in the White House, and we will need to be forever wary it doesn’t happen again. Some of the most horrible moments of my professional life have happened on social media, and some of the OTHER most horrible moments of my personal life have needed to be kept off social media, sometimes under penalty of law.
Kids get stalked, bullied, and sexted on social media. I fear it for my children’s sake. Very often even well-meaning people build a juggernaut of single-minded cyber-screeching that kills all thought and nuance like an invasive species of fish kills all kinder, more nuanced creatures and leaves environmental devastation in its wake.
There are some real minuses to instantaneous communication, and in the last eleven years since I’ve started blogging, I think our world has been changed by it and not always for the better.
But some good things have happened too.
I’ve made calls to my state and federal leadership based on information on social media. I’ve seen brilliant ideas kickstarted into reality, because that whirlwind is sometimes harnessed for good. Beautiful pictures can be made quickly on the computer and shared endlessly the same way, and people who have spent their entire lives in isolation and sorrow have suddenly discovered their tribe–and freedom–from the same media that can also do so much damage.
It all depends on how it’s used.
So anyway, today on instagram, I posted this picture of ZoomBoy.
Bless his heart, I bought him a latchhooking kit when I bought his sister some blanket yarn to crochet, and he’s been throwing himself into the craft full speed ahead.
So I got into the car and he held out his latch-hook and started to sing, “Oh I-I-I got latch-hooked on a feeling, I’m high on believing, that you’re in rug with me!”
And I lost it. Of course– he’s ZoomBoy and totally funny and awesome, and this picture was proof, and I figured the story was what Instagram was for, right?
And then I got a response from someone I hadn’t heard from in a long time–the kids’ day care provider from when I taught English. She was originally my student, and her mother ran the day care facility (at home). I was leery of hiring the parent of a student, because what if the student was an asshole, right? But I loved this kid– she was funny and smart and pretty much awesome,and her mother was one of the nicest people on earth– what was not to trust, right? So her parents went back to Dominica (where it was warmer and Mom was happier) and the kids stayed here and got educations and jobs and started families.
I brought Squish to the young woman’s baby shower because we were both so happy to hear from her, but of course, we’d lost touch since then.
Anyway– today, she contacted me on Instagram and said, “Is that ZoomBoy? He’s SO BIG!” I sent her a scrapbook of kid pictures taken recently (okay–I sent EVERYBODY a scrapbook of kid pictures taken recently, because still learning, so forgive me if you plowed through that looking for a punchline!) and I went back in her history and saw pictures of her son.
Who is also SO BIG.
She said she’s going to show her mom my little scrapbook, and I got a little verklempt.
So I guess there you go. Add one more thing–one GOOD thing that can happen on social media.
I’m so glad it happened to me!
