There have always been two things that are true of me: 1. I have always been late to participating in trends and 2. I am a very private person. Both of those things are not conducive to being a social media type of person. I always perceived social media as more negative than positive. I saw lots of fighting, opinions, and downright nastiness towards strangers. That isn't me off of a computer, and it is certainly not me behind screen, either. Also, if you deal with difficult people in real life (as we all do), you may not want to subject yourself to that on an extended basis. I did participate in message boards. (For those young people reading, a message board was a place where you could interact with other Internet users lol. Just kidding! You probably know, but they are pretty much a thing of the past) I enjoyed message boards because you talk about literally anything which interested you with other like-minded people. Or not. You might have shared a common hobby or interest, and all kinds of discussions broke out about other topics. Message boards afforded you privacy. If you chose to put pictures up of yourself, it was completely your choice. You could interact with others at your discretion. I did meet some nice people over the years, but message boards started to die out in lieu of platforms like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. I resisted for a long time, even though it meant I couldn't keep up with people like others do. It wasn't worth it to me to lose my privacy. I did start reading some public pages, especially Twitter. There were sportscasters in particular who provided up-to-date information that I appreciated. It was nice to quickly find information. Most of my family encouraged me to just sign up, never post anything, just get some information.
Fast forward to summer 2020. I was grieving, having a really bad day, and I made a crazy for me decision. I joined Twitter. I joked with myself and said that people have done a lot worse. I never intended to really post anything, just get some more streamlined information. But, I got the opportunity to meet lots of nice Mets fans there. I got to follow some of my favorite authors who have Twitter pages, I got much more up-to-the minute astronomy news than I ever did before. And I started posting! It was like the world's biggest message board. Literally anything I could think of I could post about. I have always enjoyed, even without a social media account, reading up-to-date reactions from people about TV shows, sporting events, and the news. On 9/11, I found myself drawn to the countless thousands of stories that were being posted, pictures of people at the World Trade Center during happier times. It was like I could experience a collective experience with many others who felt the same way I did. On January 6, I got on with thousands more, reading their real-time reactions to what was happening. I really do like to connect with others over shared experiences. I suspect a lot of other people do as well. And I had a way to do it. All of these things are good things for me. I also decided going into it that anything in life is what you make of it. If things got too intense, I reserved the right not to participate in discussions, etc. And even though I am passionate about politics, I limit myself because lord knows I have enough discussions off of the computer.
I am not sure how what thread or who I was reading, but I came across a Twitter user whose goal was to end homelessness. He had studied the issue over years and was in the process of starting a non-profit to put a program into place. I have been working with the homeless population as well as those who are living in poverty since I graduated high school. The first thing I did when I graduated was take a weeklong trip to New York City. I got to see firsthand the lives of those living on the streets in the largest city in our country. A city with so much wealth, yet there was an out-of-control homeless population for whom little was being done. And we certainly have this problem in every city, including my own. Through my previous employment, I got to work with those living in poverty. Things have only gotten worse over this past year. And things will continue unless we have visionaries who really want to tackle this problem. I was not sure of the name of the poster, I knew his Twitter name. I followed him, and I really looked forward to hearing his proposals. He kept people up-to-date on the progress he was making on his non-profit becoming a reality. I thought that perhaps in the future he would be a voice that we would hear more from. Perhaps our paths would even cross in real life.
On Easter morning, I was reading Twitter when a post came in from our advocate friend. As it turns out, his real name was Scott. I do not know his last name, just that his name was Scott. Scott's sister came onto Twitter to tell us that he had passed away overnight. Even though I never met Scott, I felt quite saddened by the news. Scott had a real vision, and he was working to make this world a better place. Nobody really knows much about him, and we all were wondering what might have happened. What I do know is that Scott indeed was a real person like all of us, and I also know that he was a very dedicated son. He took care of his mother very well, helping her get a COVID vaccination and took care of her when she recently broke her ribs. Scott shared all of those experiences with us. I shared my sadness with Scott's sister and now, there are over 2,000 messages on that thread. Scott and his life touched many people, even though most of us only knew him via social media. I ended up gaining a lot of followers that day as well. They all seemed to be kind, caring people who shared the same values as Scott. I am sad for Scott's family that they will always associate a holiday with his passing.
The truth is, every single one of us is a living, breathing person behind a screen. Whereas many people see a user online maybe as their screen name, or someone living far from them, we are not. Even though some people see an opportunity to be a prick, most of us are glad to connect with others. We can meet people with common interests, and it can turn into something good. It did for me. Social media in a very backwards way helped me navigate a very difficult time in my life. I had always wanted to start a blog, and now I am doing so. The world is big, and having the ability to connect with anyone anywhere is nothing short of amazing. I am so glad that I made that crazy for me decision to join Twitter. It really has been good. It helped me connect with wonderful people like Scott.
Godspeed, Scott. You touched the lives of many people in ways you probably did not understand. Rest assured, we will continue the work that you started in your life. May you rest in peace, and your spirit will certainly live on.
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