The human story of social Media

No one would wish this for you or anyone in your organization.  But if, heaven forbid, you or someone you know is affected by this, then social media may be a community for you.

I'm talking about cancer, and that community is about sharing and support.  This story is about Lauren Smith, better known as "Lola," who is dying of cancer and has turned to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to post, among other things, her bucket list.

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It is heartbreaking to know that she is so young (16) and that she is part of an age group (15 - 39) for whom cancer is least understood by physicians.  Through its efforts, it's taken the American Cancer Society 100 years to get the numbers to 2/3 survivors among patients.  So it's a painstaking effort to advance understanding and treatment.  But for this age group, survival rates apparently haven't improved in 30 years.

Even two of Lola's inspirations on YouTube - Talia Castellano (13) and Zach Sobiech (18) - passed away in the last two months.

If you run a business, lead an organization, or manage a brand, you may have a personal story and you may see genuine reason to share it, learn more about it, and get support for it.  Social media is a community to consider.