Ashley Spencer, age 29, passed away on Tuesday, January 8 in a car crash, leaving her husband (Peter), brand new baby (Lucy) and a toddler son (Toby).
Almost immediately word spread throughout Ashley’s Twitter community and with shock and grief her online friends rallied together to do what they could for Ashley’s family. Together, in only 10 days they raised over $8,000 to help with the funeral costs and any other needs her family may have.
It’s amazing that so much can be done in such a short about of time. What is even more amazing is that most of the people involved in this initiative were either online friends of Ashley’s or didn’t know her at all, but only heard about her death through the web grapevine.
Some people may be wondering– “Why would you do something like this for someone you only knew through Twitter?”
It’s hard to explain to folks who don’t use social platforms, but when I was looking for more information about Ashley I stumbled on something one of her Twitter friends, George Bolam, had written about her before her death. He expresses the Twitter connection better than I ever could:
I hardly know Ash, in any real sense, and I probably never will know her any better than I do now. I can tell you this, though, I love reading her ‘Tweets’ about her family. I don’t think Ash has an agenda, in the sense that many ‘Twitterers’ do, she doesn’t seem to have a blog or any other Internet project to promote, she’s just a young lady who loves her life and her family, and shows her love of her husband and children to the world. She’s chosen Twitter to do that, and, when it comes down to it, what better agenda could anyone have, really….
Ash, you probably don’t think you are all that important, in the great scheme of things. I’m speaking for myself, but, I suspect, many others… I love what you say, and what you do…You have made an old Englishman smile, many a dull winters evening.. so glad you and yours are around…you and your family are a little Twitter gem…
I’ve often heard folks say that Twitter is a superficial social application. To disinterested onlookers it seems lot of meaningless noise–seemingly random tidbits of conversation floating back and forth throughout cyberspace.
But those of us who use it on a daily basis know the truth– the depth of your Twitter experience is directly proportionate to the connection you feel with the people you’re twittering with, and never has this been so poignantly illustrated than through the community’s response to Twitter user Ashley Spencer’s tragic death.
Our heartfelt prayers are for Ashley’s family and friends. Thank you to her Twitter friends and the entire Twitter community for being such wonderful examples of the compassion and generosity of humanity.
Source: Servant Of Chaos
