People
Becoming Connected
After Winni graduated from high school, she felt like she’d lost connections with her friends and teachers. It made her a little bit sad.
But rather than wallow in sadness, Winni decided to be pro-active. She set a goal for herself to find a way to reconnect with the people she misses. She chose to use social media for this purpose and started with Facebook and Instagram.
“I wanted to find a way to get my memories back,” Winni says. “Social media is helping me do that.”
Krista Petrie is a life skills worker with Communitas and has supported Winni for nearly two years. Krista appreciates Winni’s positivity and encouragement of others.
“Winni is great at checking in with others and making people feel good about themselves,” Krista says. “I also appreciate her sense of humour!”
Krista says that Winni is very serious when it comes to achieving her goals and learning new things. Together, they worked at setting Winni up on her chosen social media platforms. Krista discovered that it wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be.
“We started by learning how to download the apps and decide what photo to use for a profile pic,” Krista says. “It was a learning curve for me to think about how to break down the steps and skills that I take for granted.”
Connection is important for all of us. It keeps us from being isolated and broadens our social network. Being able to connect online offers people an opportunity to do so on their own time and in their own space. As with learning any new skill, safety is a consideration.
“One of the things I appreciate about Winni is how hard she’s worked at understanding and implementing healthy boundaries,” Krista says. “We’ve been learning about the importance of online safety, what your digital footprint is, and how it affects you in the future.”
Along with the importance of safety, Winni says she has also learned how to create a cover photo, how to make a video, and how to post to each platform.
“I am also learning about reels,” she says.
Winni has already reconnected with some of her friends and teachers. She follows organizations and businesses that she likes and is learning more about them. Even though she’s been on social media for a relatively short time, she already feels that she has accomplished some of her goals.
“I love it. I love that I have been able to reconnect with some of my friends from school,” she says. “It brings back memories for me.”
Winni’s advice for someone who is thinking about trying social media is to just give it a try.
“It’s a great way to connect with old friends,” Winni says. You can follow Communitas on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
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