Social Good

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.”

Herman Melville

Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening.

This is a story about social good. And about a beautiful hairdresser I know named Molly. And how some awesome heroes, and Facebook, saved her life.

We have become so jaded it seems, complaining about the platforms we choose to be on, about the ugliness that is shared, about the political rants. But while all of that is going on, something awesome happened. A life was saved.

Molly decided to follow her heart and travel the world. Something many dream of, but she had the courage to do it. I have been following her adventures via Facebook, as her family and friends had been too. To watch her have so much joy and freedom, so much adventure and happiness was so inspiring.

Then something happened. She had an accident. In Laos. She had no ID on her. She was going to die.

A few brave and selfless heroes saved her life. They needed to find her family. Find out her last name. Find her belongings. Find treatment. And it was done via Facebook.

You see, the social web is what we make it. Just like anything. We can find it empowering, for ourselves, our communities and our businesses, or we can be mad at it. We can choose to add value to the conversation, or muddy it up with ugliness and TMI. We can choose to let it connect us, or push us away. It’s a choice. I am so grateful Molly, her family, her friends and the heroes that saved her life chose to use Facebook as a way to connect and share. As a way to stay in touch. A way in which it is meant to be used.

Molly has a long road to recovery ahead of her. If you feel inspired to share this story, share. If you feel inspired to donate to Molly’s recovery, click here Molly Deimeke GoFundMe.

To learn more about Molly’s story and the heroes who saved her life, click here. And bring the tissues. You will need it.

Love + Awesomeness-
Nina