Last month I wrote a little something about how technology is defined by the simple truth that it is somehting which doesn’t yet work properly.

Today I got another point of view. Writing on the Bamboo Project blog (another frequent user of the nptech tag) Michele Roy Martin describes how her daughter and ex-husband found themselves intimately involved in a shooting at a school in the US. The news spread fast. Michele’s take, though, was:

What struck me about all this was not only how quickly news spread through the use of technology, but also how the kids and families were able to use this media to begin connecting, processing, discussing and mourning what had happened. I thought about how as a parent, if it had been my child, I would have been so grateful to go to a site and see this outpouring of love and connection coming from other people, people who didn’t even know my child. As the mother of a child who saw what happened, I’m also grateful that she has the ability to process her own trauma and grief by connecting to so many people. It’s astonishing to me to see what technology can accomplish in creating human bonds.

I read a lot of stories about how people are worried that online community interferes with “real” community. That may be true in some cases. But this is one time when I believe that technology may actually help in healing “real life.”

I hope things settle quickly for you and your family. Take care.