Social Media is Social

When I was growing up, I moved five times before graduating high school. Out of those, 3 moves happened while social media already existed and I had accounts.

Even while I was constantly moving, I still got to witness life happening for the people I left behind. I saw three different proms. I watched classmates grow up through my phone. I wasn’t there in person, but I was still connected.

And the moment that anchored this truth for me was one of the toughest of my life. I was in middle school when a friend of mine, my first friend who was the same age as me, died. That year, I had just moved again to a new state, new school, new sports teams. I knew people, but I wasn’t yet connected to them.

One afternoon, riding the bus to a volleyball game, I was scrolling on my phone. As that was how I stayed tethered to the people who still felt like my people. And then I saw it—post after post: RIP.

That’s how I found out she was gone.

It still makes me so sad to write this. Because in that moment, I wasn’t surrounded by anyone who truly understood the depth of what I was feeling. The people around me could offer sympathy, but not shared grief. Meanwhile, online, there was a whole community grieving together—and I was both part of it and apart from it.

To process that loss, I made a video to honor her memory. And that’s why I know so deeply that the images we create and share matter. They don’t just tell a story, they let us feel together****. They carry pieces of our experiences into each other’s lives in a way words alone sometimes can’t.

That was my seed moment. The beginning of something that still shapes me today.

Because here’s what I know: the depth of human connection isn’t lost just because it happens through a screen.

We can laugh, grieve, celebrate, and heal together online. The feelings are just as real. The love is just as deep.

And that’s why I know social media doesn’t replace connection…it expands it. It gives us another way to carry each other, to witness each other, and to hold on to what matters most.

We’re all together.

Let's chat again soon...

Gibz

I dedicate this post to Cam Carter and am thankful for the lesson in life she gave me and for the love and joy she shared in her time on earth. My best wishes to her family, always.