The Value of Social Media for Communications During a Family Emergency

By Richard Hay for Windows Observer

You never know when life will throw a curveball at you and when those unexpected events occur it can be very challenging keeping everyone updated on what is happening. We have already seen social media used as a tool to share information during major crisis events like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. but what about when something happens on a lower scale.

Take for instance this past weekend for my wife and I. It began very normally with both of us preparing for our day long classes on Saturday. However, while about two hours away for her class, my wife started experiencing severe abdominal pain that resulted in her being taken to the ER at about 3 AM Saturday morning. Within an hour I was on my way to join her at the hospital where she had been diagnosed with acute appendicitis which would of course require emergency surgery.

In the days before social media and email the phone was the main means of communicating to family and friends that a situation was occurring. When cell phones and texting came on the scene they helped but it still required an individual message to family and some friends to keep them up to date.

For quite a while now sites have existed that would let someone create an individual portal to keep family and friends updated on a loved one’s illness, typically a long term one, which allows interaction by the visitors with their words of encouragement.

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About Windows Observer

Windows Observer is owned and operated by Richard Hay. In January 2010 Richard's community contributions were recognized by Microsoft when he received his first Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for Windows Desktop Experience and in January 2011 when he was renewed as a Microsoft MVP in a new category called Windows Expert-Consumer.

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