A Social Media Memorial to the Boys in Red
Can social media help us to genuinely reach out when tragedy strikes outside of our local community?
There was a funeral today in a hockey arena. On January 12 2008, seven players from the Bathurst High School Phantoms basketball team died in a tragic accident. Their van lost control while driving back from a game. Only three passengers and the driver, coach, survived. His wife did not.
Their community has suffered a great loss. When I heard about this, my heart went out to those families. I have teenage children too. I have often driven back from games or tournaments through challenging weather. But how can I reach out?
Local friends have set up an online memorial to the “Boys in Red” where you can at least leave your thoughts, prayers and words of encouragement. As of this writing there are over 23,600 people who have joined the Facebook group set up in their honour. There are pictures, videos and mostly words of encouragement. Another 4,900 have left comments on the online guest book.
“Pleasant words are like honey,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” (Solomon)
You can send your words here or here.
January 17th, 2008 - Posted in Community, Social Media | |
