My life changed last week. I was on my usual Wednesday morning route from Wisconsin back to Minnesota when I saw a car pulled over to the side of the road with its hazards on. Soon I noticed a man waving his arms and realized that a serious head-on car crash had just happened.

I didn’t really know what to do. Somehow I got through the moments that followed, got back on the road in tears, and then had an overwhelming sense of wanting to share what had just happened. As I pulled into my driveway, I did something I had never done on my personal Facebook page. I went live.

I could have just written a comment about the experience. I thought about that. I second-guessed myself about going live, thinking it put too much focus on me rather than on others. But ultimately I pushed the Go Live button and shared my heart.

Within a few hours, I got a message from a friend of mine on Facebook asking if the man’s name was Steve. It was. My friend works with his wife and thanked me for providing comfort and being there for him. I found out he had been airlifted and was very banged up, but was going to be OK. I wouldn’t have found this out so quickly without the Facebook video.

A few hours after that, several other Facebook connections reached out because they were friends of Steve’s. The views and comments poured in. The biggest message I was sending out was the fact that people need to just be there for other people.

By that evening, I was personally connected as friends to both Steve and his wife Mary. They reached out with messages of thanks. But then several days later this message showed up from Steve on his timeline:

Woke up this morn feeling awful. Shoulder swelled up during nite. Can hardly use my left arm. Can only take short breaths… very hard to breathe. Really wondering if this is worth it. Clicked on to Facebook . It went directly to Andrea Gribble’s video. I watched it for the 7th time. This time it really hit home. So many tears ……………. Suddenly realized I am breathing so deeply, my shoulder is moving ! Andrea very likely saved my life by keeping me from going into shock at the scene. From now on whenever I am having a hard time I will feel her arm around me and her hand on mine. I will make it through this. Whenever you meet her, can you give her a hug and thank her for being the kind and thoughtful person she is?”

Powerful stuff. I’m no hero. I truly believe God put me there and I was just doing what was instinctive to me.

But do you see what happened above? Steve was having a terrible morning of pain, he opened Facebook and he saw something powerful to change his mindset.

Social media gets a bad rap many times. I’m not so naive as to not see the damage it can do. But I also believe in its power to change the world for the better.

All of us have the power. Of course with this example, it was on my personal Facebook page. But this relates 100% to the difference you can make with your school social media accounts. Our students are so incredible. They are doing great things. The dedicated staff that serves — they are amazing.
Share the stories. Post the videos. Go live on Facebook. It does take work. It is sometimes scary. But it is worth it.

So at a time where we are all giving thanks for so many things, I’m going to make sure I also say thanks for social media!

What powerful stories have you seen transpire because of social media at your school? Share them with me below. And if you are involved with schools and want to keep up with all of our social media blogs sign up here.