I’ve become aware of the scrutiny and judgments around Shellie’s tragic incident (a mom whose 2 year old son drowned 2 days ago). I would like to shed some light to the tool but even more to the culture and practical application that Twitter has for its users (often called Twitters or Tweeps).
I am writing this post to the attention of the investigators, police officers, extended family and community members who have been personally touched by Bryson’s short life. The intention of my post is not to defend nor to accused. Instead, it is meant to give you a solid and objective idea of Twitter and what goes on inside its walls.
An application with now billions of users. Currently the house of every business that care about its future and the house of organizations that care about their customers. Twitter is also the house of many people who constantly communicate, help, fight, sheer up, spam, sale, support and much more.
Communities
Believer or not, Twitter is really formed by communities. A group of people with a common denominator. Like most of us Shellie (Military_Mom) belongs in various communities: moms, military, marketers, bloggers and so forth.
Now the three big questions:
1) Why did Shellie spend so much time on Twitter?
There are many reasons people join this big community. By interacting with Shellie and reading her Tweets (messages on Twitter), I can share the following:
Work: Think about Twitter as a home business. Here are some examples how Shellie persuaded me to go to Wal-Mart and other clients for my Christmas shopping back in November:
@AnaRC walmart is free site to store shipping with excellent clearance too 8:47 AM Nov 19th from Echofon in reply to AnaRC
@AnaRC jcp.com has free shipping and 10 or 15 off purchases this weekend (now through Sat) toysRus has great clearance, and 8:46 AM Nov 19th from Echofon in reply to AnaRC
Before she sent me those tweets, we engaged in a conversation about how I leave everything to the last minute (including my shopping).
Attract Traffic to blog: As most of us in the online world, our blog is the main source of clients. Twitter is a great tool to bring traffic back to her blog from which Shellie writes product reviews, runs give-ways and has fun. The higher the traffic, the higher the sales and the more opportunities will come her way.
Source of knowledge: Like most of us, Shellie uses Twitter to find best practice, to read the latest trends in her business and also to share her two cents as the expert that she is.
Connector: Twitter is one of the best connectors out there. So to connect with brands, marketing officers and other moms (her target audience), Shellie engages on Twitter.
2) Was Shellie Twittering instead of watching Bryson?
If you look at the tweets around the time of the accident, the first one was at 4:30, then 4:31, another set of tweets at 5:17, 5:18, 5:19 and 5:21. To the final tweet after 6 when she cries for prayers to the Twitter community.
I can assure you that when a person is exclusively “twittering” he/she would normally tweet 1 tweet a minute. Therefore Shellie was obviously doing something else other than Twitter.
3) How can she tweet after her son is dead?
Apart from the fact that people have different reactions to tragedy and one never knows until the moment arrives (hoping for a never). I can only share my personal story here.
Last Friday, I was on my way to Washington D.C. heading to a Latism conference. I had also combined the trip with a consultancy job with the World Bank and another meeting with the U.S. Hispanic Youth Entrepreneur Education (USHYEE). However it was the first snow in Rochester, NY and my car went off the road. All of the sudden, I was buried in snow and since it was 7:07 AM, there weren’t many people on the highway.
5 years ago I would have called 911 but last Friday, I sent a Tweet and the usual magic happened:
911: I did end up calling them at 7:10 (3 minutes after my tweet) only to hear “yes madam, we’ve received 36 calls already. We’re on our way” by the time I hanged up they were already there.
Meeting 1: my secretary text me “I’m rescheduling the meeting on Skype and sending you the presentation electronically”
Meeting 2: they sent me a DM (direct message that’s private between two people) just saying “we’re aware, will reschedule”
The car: 2 friends from my ROC community not only called the towing company but they even provided a credit card number in case I didn’t have cash on me. The towing service was there within minutes with a big “I’ve been paid smile”
Prayers: other cars were having the same problem as I had on the curve and I worried about a bad accident. My prayer community was on, sending me all the angels, messages of encouragement and hope.
Flight: Even though I wasn’t very lucky with my travel agent, my airline waved the change fee and booked me into the next flight.
Extras: I received over 70 messages, direct messages, texts, phone calls and more. All offering help, prayers & support.
Now, do you get the power of that tweet? Not only did I save myself over 14 calls (to 911, my secretary, World Bank, USHY, D.C. friends, people in my prayer network & family) but I certainly felt surrounded by a support system. This wasn’t chance. This was the result of a presence and a community building that takes place every day. One tweet at a time. When I sent that tweet, I knew what was going to happen. My communities would jump to help, the same way I’ve helped others in need. The same reason why I’m writing such a long post for Shellie.
I hope that my story helps you understand why Shellie twitted during her tragedy. She cried for help: “Please pray …..
And if you are still in doubt, please have the courage to link to Shellie’s support system on Twitter. You’ll see that messages of encouragement, sympathy and blessings have been nonstop. If still in doubt, please join the conversation tomorrow at 9:00 pm EST on Twitter. I can assure you that you’ll be moved.
I’ve been consulting for public and private organizations to help them understand how their customers are using social media. Also how they can use it to engage and reach certain goals. This job has given me enough exposure to every level of perception of Twitter by “the big guys”. There are also false myths and stereotypes about “mommy bloggers”.
Often when I ask provocatively to my clients if they think I’m a mommy blogger, their answer is NO! as a mother of four young children who blogs for her business, I must break the news: I am a “mommy blogger” and it is an honor for me to be the voice to a fellow colleague during such difficult time. I am happy to talk to any of the agents involved in this case free of charge. As long as it serves to shed more objective light to the situation.
I have seen a common denominator among Shellie’s tougher judges. They’re Twitter newbies. This will also be the case of the majority of the investigators, family members, educators and so forth. The first reaction is to blame the unknown (in this case “Shellie’s presence on Twitter” and to jump to easy conclusions as a result of anger and fear. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 300 children drown every year and over 3,000 end up with serious injuries. I’m pretty sure these stats have not been altered by Twitter.
One last thing. Think twice before you judge and count to 5,000 before you write or say anything that could hurt a grieving mom.
