"We Are All Connected" - Photo By: Erika Marshall

It’s 12:30 on a Sunday morning as I’m drafting this. Mock me later, this is too important.

I was out celebrating a friend’s birthday earlier this evening when I saw that @ErikaBitzer had shot @jeremymeyers and myself a reply on Twitter mentioning that she had included us in her last blog post.

Quick back story.

Ericka and I recently connected on Twitter. Unbeknownst to me, Ericka has been facing a personal battle with cancer but has been improving. As a way to give back to the cancer community, she was on the hunt for a good cancer support organization to help out. I’m linking to her post again to fill in the final details and help paint the picture – please do read, it’s important to help contextualize the rest of this post.

Now, I could go on for pages about why social media matters within the overarching world of communications but it’s often most effective to show these types of real-life examples. For all the articles and posts we read on a daily basis touting the need to move masses, accelerate sales cycles and demonstrate real ROI in order to justify the use of social media, I look to this as a perfect example of online engagement in action. Throw the figures, numbers and year-end metrics out the door for a moment and look at what just happened – the social Web was utilized as a channel for facilitating real human connections. Scaled back, the right audience connected with the right content at the right time.

The results speak for themselves as one person’s life has now been impacted. Who knows how many other people in the cancer community will now be influenced through their own connections with Erika. A catalyst has been put in motion all through the sheer existence of online networked communications.

Do I share all this to toot my own horn? Not in the slightest…maybe to toot Jeremy’s horn a bit but certainly not my own. I share because for me, this is the crux of social media. It’s not always about moving mountains, it’s about putting influence into action. In other words, keep in mind that the basis the social Web revolves around the following:

Real People. Real Connections. Real Action. Real Results.

If it were not for the existence of the social Web, Erika and I may have never connected and in turn, she may or may not of discovered Imerman Angels. This process happens day in and day out and is why I love helping nonprofits use the social Web to drive actionable change and prompt human engagement.

I’m smiling extra big today. Thank you Erika.

-Scott