The following is a true story that was initiated within a private Facebook Group that I started a few years ago for members of my high school class and members of classes close to us. Following is a recount of the events from one of the participants.
"Back in January, I laid out a small rant on FB declaring my dissatisfaction with the FB social media experiment. I iterated how negative most of the end-results had been up to then regarding the SM world and how it had affected my life.
Then, two days ago, a close high school buddy, sends out a blast via FB to the alumni from our school asking for help. His 14-year-old niece, Samantha, had been a part of a student exchange program and had landed in Japan ½ hour before the quake hit. The kid was stranded and he was asking for help.
A friend, Marilyn, linked up with another alumni named, Sun Chul Kim, who had contacts in Korean airlines. He paid for a ticket leaving Hiroshima for Seoul, Korea, but she could not board without someone in Korea to act as a guardian.
I was able to provide a link to SFC Michelle Johnson, who reached back to 8th Army and her boss, a man named Mike Detor.(SP?) He and his wife stepped up and met Sam at the airport, took care of her, and placed her on a plane bound for NY and then home to NC and Mommy.
From nowhere, suddenly, people around the globe are hopping around expending effort to assist a kid none of them know personally. None of it being possible without the rapid access of the SM networking.
I take it all back. I really do. Facebook has proven itself a worthy tool that enables amazing power. Similar to the linking of small rooftop antennas into an array capable of sending and receiving signals out to space, the entwining of relationships and people can create a synergy that changes lives.
I am glad to have had a small part in linking good people together. Thank you, Sean, Sun, Marilyn, Terry & Ana, Michelle, and Mike for doing the right thing just...because... you are wired that way."
~ Roland (Chip) Filiault, Producer-Director for Soldiers Radio and Television based in D.C.
Social media sure is one amazing communications tool, isn't it?
Photo credit: Official US Navy Imagery
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