The Social Media Powerhouse

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Oh, the power of Social Media…. I have been witness to this over the past few days.

I wrote a blog post called ‘I am a Chiropractor‘ more than a year ago, and this week it was picked up by a couple of Facebook Groups and went viral.  My blog, that usually has a few hundred people reading it each week, got nearly 6000 hits in just three days.  Wordpress provides me with some detailed analytics, and it was interesting to learn that:

  • 86% of the people who read my blog only read that one post.
  • 48% of readers were from Canada, 41% from the United States, and 11% were from all corners of the world.
  • 7 people left comments in the Comments Section.
  • 5 other bloggers ‘Liked’ that post.
  • 3 people signed up to receive email alerts for new blog postings that I publish.
  • 5% of people read the ‘About Me‘ section of my website.
  • 4% of people viewed my Home Page.
  • 13 new people ‘Liked’ my Facebook Page.
  • 4 new people ‘Followed’ me on Twitter.

It was a fun experience from my end, seeing people’s reactions to the words that I wrote, and seeing the cascade of online sharing that began.  In general, the feedback was very positive.  And then this email rolled into the ‘Pending Moderation’ file in the Comments Section and changed the mood:

“Sorry, but you’re not a real doctor, you’re not a “body mechanic”, and chiropractic most certainly isn’t evidence based medicine.”

But here’s another fun part: it’s my blog.  I get to decide the content and comments that are published.  And I chose to mark this one as ‘Spam’.

And now, back to the fun…

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Don’t Call her “Princess”

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This is how Dictionary.com defines ‘princess’:

  • 1)  A non-reigning female member of a royal family.
  • 2)  A female sovereign or monarch; queen.
  • 3)  The consort of a prince.
  • 4)  In Great Britain, a daughter or granddaughter (if the child of a son) of a king or queen.
  • 5)  A woman considered to have the qualities or characteristics of a princess.
Numbers 1-4 do not apply to my daughter.  Those points are easy to argue.  It’s #5 that has me concerned.

Yep, she’s cute.  And yep, she’s only 18 months old.  Perhaps I’m making a bigger deal out of this than needs to be made.  In fact, if I am being completely honest, I have called her “princess” on occasion myself.  However, we were at an indoor playplace one morning last week, and sweet little Casey toddled towards one of the dads playing with his children- the first words out of his mouth were “hi, princess”.  He didn’t choose to just say “hi”, “hello”, or even “hi sweetie”, which is what I call most toddlers I encounter.  He chose “princess”.  If she had been a boy, would he have chosen “prince”?  I doubt it.  I think he would’ve chosen “buddy”, or “bud”, or “big guy”.  “Buddy”, “bud”, and “big guy” all convey images of camaraderie, strength, and confidence.

Meanwhile, Google informs me that the “qualities and characteristics of a princess” include nobility, poise, dignity, listening attentively, controlling her emotions, selflessness, generosity, compassion, patience, and forgiveness.  And here’s the kicker: “A princess doesn’t compete with a prince.  Just the opposite, she builds him up”.  Wow.  Not exactly conveying camaraderie, strength, and confidence.  Girls are praised for their looks and boys are praised for their character.  It starts early, folks.  Are we teaching our daughters to be confident, self-assured, independent young women, or are we teaching them to find their prince and build him up?  I’m trying to raise my little girl to be a kind person, just as I’m trying to raise my little boy to be a kind person.  The stereotypical, gender-role, accepted-female-behaviour-versus-accepted-male-behaviour has got to stop.

The reality is, she will likely be told she’s cute many more times in her life than she’s told that she’s smart.  Or that she’s strong.  Or that she’s kind.  Her cuteness is the tip of the great big iceberg personality that lies beneath.

Like I said initially, perhaps I am reading into this too much.  Perhaps I am creating worry where no worry needs to be.  But, then again, perhaps it all starts with “princess”.

I love this kid!

I love this kid!

The Garbage Man

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I am having a love affair with the garbage man.

OK, not really- it’s actually the recycling workers, and no love affair is involved- but I really do appreciate these guys and what they do for us each week.  I wrote this letter-to-the-editor two weeks ago, and it ended up in the Burlington Post:

recycling letter
This past Thursday morning, when the recycling truck and its two workers came by, the conversation went something like this:

  • Him:  “Good morning!  Did you write that letter to the paper last week?”
  • Me:  “Yes I did.  Did you see it?”
  • Him:  “Yes, and I wanted you to know how much we appreciated that.  It really made our day”.

This interaction floored me.  One, because I didn’t actually expect that the recycling workers themselves would see the letter.  I wrote it to express my gratitude in the hopes that Halton Recycling would see that they’re doing a great job, and to remind people of the hard work these guys do on a daily basis.  And two, because they were able to figure out that it must’ve been me who wrote the letter makes me realize that they enjoy the weekly interaction with my children as much as we do.  We’ve made an impression on them, as they have on us.

By them acknowledging that I’d made their day, made my day!

What goes around comes around, doesn’t it?

*****

For those who cannot read my letter-to-the-editor from the picture above, here is what it says:

“I have been meaning to write for months.  I live in the Orchard, and I wanted to share my appreciation for the Halton recycling workers who come through our neighbourhood every Thursday morning.

They are usually at our house around 7:30am, and we are often eating breakfast at that time.  As soon as my 4.5 and 1.5 year-old kids hear the truck, they race to the front door.

We then stand on the front step and watch the truck make its way down our street.  Without fail, through rain, sleet, and snow, the two workers give us  a wave, a smile, and a friendly “Hi buddy” to my children.  Every.  Single.  Time.  Depending on the truck they are driving, they will sometimes stop in front of our house and use the lift arm to dump the recycling up into the top of the truck- quite a sight for two impressionable children to see!

I don’t think they know how much this simple act of kindness means to me, and to my kids.”