Social Media

My stepdaughter Sarah entered the hospital this past Saturday when she went into labor, right on time, to give birth to her first child.

We looked forward to receiving news as her labor progressed, and old fogies that we apparently are, we stayed close to the phone all day so we could know what was happening.

Actually, as it turned out, the phone didn’t have a whole lot to do with communication in this case. The arrival of our latest grandchild provided us with a new, non-business oriented experience with social media.

The first updates on Sarah’s labor came as text messages.

The first pictures of the baby were posted on Sarah’s Facebook page.

Being the singleminded, business minded individual I am, it hadn’t dawned on me to link up with Sarah on Facebook before. So while she lay in her hospital bed recovering from a C-section, she had to approve me as her ‘Friend’ so we could enjoy photos of the latest grandchild and write our congratulations on Sarah’s Facebook wall, along with 456 of her friends.

Then because we were included on Sarah’s email list, we were notified by one of her friends that we could help out during Sarah’s recovery by bringing her and her family a meal. Unfortunately, since western North Carolina is 800 miles away from Orlando, Florida, taking them a meal isn’t possible.

But because they are using the social networking site Take Them A Meal.com, I can at least see what’s on their menu each day.

A current version of a telephone tree, Take A Meal allows online planning of group efforts. In this case, friends within Sarah’s network were provided a user name and password that allows them to log in and select a convenient day for them to cook and bring Sarah and her family a meal. This particular project even allows them to provide detail about the foods they will be bringing, so everyone can plan some variety and nutritional balance in the meals they make.

Phone numbers and the delivery street address are conveniently listed, along with any food allergies that exist. The names, dates and menus listed by each person bringing a meal are listed for all to see, as well as their phone numbers, so everyone in this particular network can communicate and coordinate as needed.

When I am asked by business owners to describe why social media is important and why they need to ‘do it’, I now have a great example to tell them about. Because using social media to communicate about things that matter to you, means social media could be of great value to you. And perhaps the best way to start out and learn about social media sites is on a personal or family basis. You can figure out how to ‘use’ social media to enhance your business later on.

Congratulations, Sarah and Greg, as we welcome John Robert to the family!

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