Social media has been a place to reconnect with old friends and family and stay connected to new people you meet.
When online profiles first came along we were careful to keep our lives private and not share anything “because you never know for sure who is on the other keyboard”.
While that’s still true, if you live your life in fear you shrink. And if you are shrinking you aren’t living life to its full advantage.
There is this other side of social media that is evolving. But you have to stop shrinking and immerse yourself into the experience.
Connections are being made in online communities. And those communities are starting to thrive.
Online educators are building communities inside of Facebook groups. But they aren’t communities of people you know in real life, they are communities of people across the world who share something in common.
I’m in a few different communities for paid learning products and once you see it like an online learning classroom, and the others inside of the groups as your peers – it becomes a whole new world.
A couple of weeks ago I messaged someone I hadn’t talked to before with a question about her post in one of these communities.
We chatted back and forth and at the end she helped me out with something that she would have normally charged me for.
When I thanked her for her help she said “of course, we really need to stick together right now.” (Meaning during the pandemic).
That’s so refreshing to hear right now. Very few people are sticking together, instead they are protecting themselves from each other.
Going through a crisis with others either creates deep bonds and builds trust, or it breaks down trust and breaks people apart.
The social distancing we are being asked to do has really driven us apart. I don’t know who holds my views and who doesn’t because I can’t see you.
If you are protecting yourself, you are missing a huge opportunity to deepen trust, create bonds, and build relationships and there is a good chance you are damaging the relationships you’ve been building.
We need to look after each other in crisis. Not just the people you know, but even strangers on the internet. It matters.
We have got to stick together.
Happy Easter.