My article on social media

I work for a small business-to-business ad agency and every month we publish an electronic enewsletter filled with articles pertaining to the branding and marketing world. This month I wrote one on social media, while personal in nature, is also a difference maker. It's about my wonderful blog experience and I owe it all to you, my amazing "extended" family. Happy reading.

Adopting meaningful social media. My social media journey: from observation to participation to extended family.

You hear a lot about social media’s “worthless babble.” I have to agree, much of what I receive on Twitter and Facebook falls
under “friendly chitchat.” The kind people have around the water cooler or out on the golf course. But isn’t that to be expected? After all, it is a social medium that builds relationships. Relationships that could over time turn into extended family as I was about to find out.

Never one to embrace technology, I dipped my toe in the social media pond in early 2007 when my husband and I began chartering the unknown territory of international adoption. Choosing a country, an adoption agency, the mounds of paperwork—it was overwhelming. Sensing my frustration, a friend suggested I look into the Yahoo adoption groups. Selecting a country to adopt from, Kazakhstan, got the ball rolling. I began by observing the group dynamics. But it didn’t take long before I was posting questions and getting helpful advice from complete strangers across the U.S.

Soon, strangers became friends. I began reading their adoption blogs—more than 20 per day. Together, we encouraged those just starting out. We high-fived those who were “paper” pregnant. We cheered for those in Kazakhstan, bonding with their children. And our hearts overflowed with joy for those who made it home safely with their sons and daughters. (Which included the successful adoption of our five-year-old son Garrett Nurlan on April 2, 2008.) Such a blessing, it inspired me to share my adoption story: http://littlekazman.blogspot.com. Little did I know where this blog would lead me.

July 31, 2007. The day I joined the community.

My first reason for “blogging” was to help other families (particularly those adopting an older child) through the arduous
process. The second was to create a memory book for Garrett. But the main reason I write today is for the sense of community
it provides. Many friends still post comments, excited to read about every milestone. Through the joy (meeting our son in
Uralsk) and the pain (the setbacks, the wait, the red tape) and the daily challenges of raising an older institutionalized child.

Blogging to meeting IRL (in real life).

Today, our “extended” family includes the Hot Kazakh Mamas—Suzanne, Susan, Shannon and Kristin—from Tampa. The two Karen’s (whom I affectionately call Lexi and Cincy) from Lexington, KY and Cincinnati. Then there’s the three sets of Jennifer’s, Sara's and Kim's, Eileen, Alaina, Cheryl, Kelly, Mary, Darlene, Catalina, Diana, Gretchen, Stacy, Muriel, Angela, Regina and dear friends Anita and Holly from the Atlanta area, mothers to Charlie and Jonathan—two of my son’s baby house buddies. Anita found us quite by accident while googling Uralsk adoption blogs. (Uralsk is the region where we adopted our son.) She saw pictures of Garrett on my blog and discovered he was her son’s best friend from the orphanage. She sent pictures of Nurlan (Garrett’s Kazakh name), Baury (Charlie’s Kazakh name) and Visily (Jonathan’s Russian name) from three years ago. It was one of those goose bump moments: to see my son at age four, goofing on the playground. What an incredible gift because, as far as I’m concerned, they’re his brothers (Garrett is an only child). Thanks to social media, we united last month in Atlanta where the boys (and moms) had the time of their lives.

There has been a shift again. Lately, the social networking Web site of choice has become Facebook. (Probably because we’re too busy chasing children to find time to blog.) Talk about meaningful social media, I can certainly attest to that first-hand.