The Internet as Mass Communications Tool


Bringing people together; keeping them closer: in good times and bad

A lovely lady I knew from my Theatre days died this past Saturday after battling cancer for quite some time. I found out via a mass email, the same way I had been hearing for weeks about her condition.

Okay, everyone get over their horror and head-shaking about the decline of civilized society.

Because I am grateful. Because the truth is without email I may not have heard she was very ill until after she had died.

Teresa, a wonderful pianist, and I had worked together on numerous shows, but I haven't done theatre in 5 years and probably hadn't run into Teresa in at least 2 years or so. We weren't close, certainly, but she is one of the many lovely and talented people with whom I've worked over the years, and I have fond memories of her, her talents and conversations I had with her.

So, the truth is, I wasn't going to be on a phone tree list for Teresa; her family wasn't going to have heard lots of stories about me. Who knows if, in the old days pre-email, I would have heard about her illness and subsequent memorial plans at all. But these days I can be forwarded an email from a friend who thought I would be interested, and I can get myself added to the list, and I can let other people know too.

And you may be asking, so what? If you two weren't that close, why does it matter?

Well, in her last few months Teresa had a very good friend who kept this mailing list for people interested in how Teresa was doing. But more than that, she organized visits, and daily card-sending duties. She reminded us when it was her birthday, and in Teresa's last few weeks, she encouraged us to send her a little note telling her why she was important to us...why we had taken the time to send the cards and make the visits and all.

I didn't do much. I sent her some cards, that's all.

But I guess in the end Teresa felt overwhelmed that so many people cared about her; cared enough to show it in tangible ways. And her family felt very gratified as well. In fact the arranged visits helped them take breaks, and it certainly warmed their hearts to know that they weren't alone in caring about Teresa.

I've written before about how much I think the Internet and email has improved our ability to stay in touch with people, and how I appreciate the ability to stay connected to dozens, maybe hundreds of people in a way I never could via snail mail or telephone.

Usually I'm thinking about how it helps you stay in touch for fun or for networking purposes. But this is a case where it helps keep people informed about the not-so-good times, and find their own way to help.

Posted: Tue - May 11, 2004 at 02:26 PM       EmailFeedback

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