Connections… #SOL15

I am amazed when I encounter folks who don’t see the value in social media or an online presence. And I’m not talking people my parents’ age. My dad LOVES Facebook 🙂 I’m talking people my age or younger. Several interactions over the last few weeks have reminded me how powerful the connnections are that I have made via social media or been able to continue because of online connections:

-the student who contacted me after 7 years

– posting a status update about my new job and looking at the list of people who “liked” the post…former students, old friends, people I have met via Twitter and FB who I still haven’t met in person, people I have met via Twitter and FB who have now become dear friends, former colleagues, new colleagues

-getting a text that same evening from someone who has gone from online PLN member to dear,dear friend and spending an hour on the phone the next day with that same person to talk about our adventures and careers

-sharing the Go Fund Me page for our service trip this summer with high school students and having friends from all over the country contribute

-having an author whose work you love, “Like” your blog post!! (*happydance*)

-getting access to articles and research from tweets and FB I might have missed otherwise

-seeing pictures and “hearing” stories from my former student babies as they lead wonderful lives

-posting a question and crowdsourcing the amazing brilliance of colleagues across the country

-getting a text my first day at my new job from someone who started as an online colleague and has become a wonderfully dear friend

 

And that is just in the past few weeks! Technology can be a nuisance and too much information and input at times can be overwhelming. But I’ll take all the pitfalls if it means I can continue to have these connections. They are just too powerful to ignore and my life truly is better because of them. How lucky am I?!