Get Well Katie Swanberg; Social Networking Hurts
Katie Swanberg is very ill. This may mean nothing to visitors to Your Home Kitchen Garden, but it has affected me profoundly. I’ve known Katie since about June of 2009… but to say “known” seems like exaggeration. We started following each other on Twitter back then, so I’ve seen her tweets, grazed her blog, and flipped through her photos on www.flickr.com.
I’ve probably exchanged no more than a dozen tweets with Katie, yet because of the overlap in our social networking activities, she seems very familiar. Goodness, from day-to-day, I learn more about Katie than I do about my golf and poker buddies who I see only once a month (none of them are on Twitter, and none of them blog).
Knowing Katie
I know nothing about Katie that anyone couldn’t learn in about an hour of poking around online. She is going through a divorce and embracing independence. I applauded her New Year’s post (here) which she summarized with this observation:
I’m 28.
My life expectancy is 96 years.
The way I see it, I’m just getting started.
Adventure abounds.
Bring it.
About a week ago, Katie, who goes by @GardenPunk on twitter, tweeted to no one in particular that she had just chowed too many Girl Scout cookies. I flippantly responded something about liking her more for her confession; I’m sure I have many kindred spirits who open a sleeve of those devil-disks and devour its contents in minutes.
A few days after those tweets, @GardenPunk tweeted dismay over a sudden onset of flu-like symptoms. About a day later, the gardening social network changed.
I’m making a symbolic gesture in support of Katie Swanberg: I’m growing a beard. From now until we see Katie return to Twitter, my Twitter avatar will be full-frontal and bearded. The beard gets pretty uncomfortable in warm weather, so I’m counting on Katie to recover quickly. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cityslipper
Katie’s Illness
Katie’s sister and other Twitterers close to Katie reported that Katie had been hospitalized. Eventually, we learned that Katie had spinal meningitis, and the earliest prognosis was dire: she had been given a 20% chance of survival. I was astonished at how intensely this information affected me.
Buzz about Katie spread rapidly through the social network, and the visitors’ page her sister created has gotten thousands of hits. The tenor of conversations on the network has changed, and it’s clear that many people who know Katie only through her web presence have been affected as I have.
While Katie is far from healthy, reports continue to be as good as they get for this type of medical condition. Katie’s sister assures us that the doctor in charge is one of the best. Katie’s social network continues its vigil: we miss Katie’s tweets, and we are anxious for her return to Twitter and her blog.
As I said: I was astonished at how intensely Katie’s illness has affected me. I spend a lot of energy trying to convince businesses to adopt social networking for marketing and customer-relations. While I’m often frustrated by the resistance to social media, I’d never encountered the objection I can now voice with authority: Social networking can hurt.
Hang in there, Katie.
Hey Daniel,
As the “other Katie” who benefits from your kindness and attention on twitter, I would have to say that Katie Swanberg’s illness has affected me, too, more than I thought it would.
I was in the middle of running around Naples with my family, when I saw Carri’s facebook post. I had to sit down.
Katie S. is so close to my age, and some of my experiences, and we’d chatted back and forth some, particularly while rabble-rousing after Garden Writers.
I was so SO happy just to see how happy SHE was in the last few months, getting her life back to the way she wants it. It was so sad to read about her illness.
I’d say that, in addition to the only good reason to AVOID social networking-that it can hurt, this situation shows a very concrete reason TO social network: that it HELPS. Perhaps I’m naive, but I do think that all of the well-wishes from Katie’s tweeps, and blogging friends, from around the world and close to home are helping her and her family during this time.
I’m a freelance writer, and my tweeps are the only thing that keeps me sane, some days, while I sit at home alone with my sleeping dog, typing.
Nice post. And, nice, uh, beard.
Let’s hope Katie gets well soon so you can shave it! 