Fate and Twitter: Deeply meaningful Twitter experience
Fate and Twitter? Fate’s a mighty big thing to claim and I rarely use it but that’s the only word I can use to describe this thing that happened last week. Through Twitter, I was connected to two deeply meaningful people/content. Or maybe it’s a higher power - lately things have fallen into place in ways that are just too ironic and right. So you be the judge. And be patient, the story needs set up. It’s also more on the personal side - not business focused, but it seems appropriate given the Twitter angle. Hope you find it as fascinating as I have.
Twitter is useful for a lot of things. I love it and get tremendous value out of it professionally and socially. That said, this is the most powerful experience I’ve had on Twitter, maybe even online ever.
Context: As you know, I’m currently off from work to deal with a cancer health issue. I just finished treatments on Thursday and I am now working on healing from the radiation. So I have some time on my hands which is really hard for me. I’m type-A, over achiever, over scheduler. I like to keep myself very busy. And now I find myself needing to just relax, slow down and heal. Very, very hard for me.
Once I started treatments, I decided after I was doing better I wanted to volunteer for 1:1 support for young adults with cancer because it’s not very common and I’ve had a hard time finding support services out there for people like me - you know, other people who can understand what it’s like to have to deal with this when you’re at the prime of your life, all the worries that someone my age would have getting this, and just someone my age who’s experienced what I have. My kind of cancer is typically with male smokers over 50 - so it’s hard for me to feel like I can relate. I have been researching for a group to get involved with since I made the decision with no luck.
Now on to Twitter…
Mid-last year I was followed on my twitter alias, @ErikaBitzer, by @jeremymeyers. I didn’t know Jeremy. I checked out what his tweets and his blog and saw he did social media for Sony. I thought he seemed like someone I’d be interested in following and so I followed back. A few weeks later, I see he took at job at my former agency, which I’d just left like 6 months before. Since then, we’ve chatted informally over twitter about music and random stuff here and there.
Fast forward to this month. @ScottMeis starts following me. I didn’t know him either. I check out his stuff and see he just took a job at my former agency and he has a blog on social media so I thought I’d follow him back.
Ok, so we get to Thursday last week. I am reading up on Twitter and see @ScottMeis recent blog post on influence and skim it. While reading it I come across a reference to Jonny Imerman and Imerman Angels who pairs cancer patients and survivors up for peer support. I think hmmm, this could be a group to volunteer with.
That same night, Jeremy and I are DMing about random stuff. I mention that I’m off from work right now going through cancer treatments and having a hard time because I’m getting bored sitting at home trying to recover. He suggests I volunteer and suggests I look for the group through change.gov. I go out do a search and the only site that comes up that fits my criteria is a group called I’m too Young for This - i[2]y - or otherwise referred to as Stupid Cancer. I go to the site and check out all the stuff they have. In their other resources section, Imerman Angels (the group @ScottMeis had blogged about) was in there. I think this must be a good fit and go to that site too.
That night, I signed up for Imerman Angels and started following them on Twitter, Facebook etc. I figured it would take a few weeks to get going with them and by then I could start to maybe help someone else. I also started following @stupidcancer and told them how happy I was to find them.
I head off to bed and the Twitter fairies stop by that night…
The next day, the founder of i[2]y, Matthew Zachary through @stupidcancer has DMed me thanking me for the note and we chit chat a bit and we exchange email info so I can get involved once I’m doing a bit better. I want to see how I can help using my PR talents and also at doing stuff for the Seattle area. I also get a call from Imerman Angels - they already paired me up with someone to help me (not what I’d thought would happen given I was just finishing). By that night, the person they’d paired me with, Sarah, had emailed me. She’s a few years older than me and just finished the exact same treatment schedule 2.5 months ago. Our experience was almost identical.
In one day, I went from being completely disconnected and supported from a group perspective to having 1:1 support, non-profit support, and connections for deeper involvement down the road for something that is so important and critical for me right now. I just couldn’t believe how quickly and neatly it all fit together. This is such a powerful experience and I’m so thankful for it.I felt a huge emotional void filled.
So was it fate? I don’t know, but I think if @JeremyMeyers and @ScottMeis hadn’t found me, I don’t know if I ever would have found these groups. And it’s just random that it happened the same day that this came together from their resources.
I’m reading Shel Israel’s Twitterville right now and there’s lots of stories of how Twitter helps people and business and I decided that this is one of those stories that was too weird and interesting to not share.
