By Christine Leccese with Melissa Seligman
Long before social media, members of the military community knew the unique value of reaching out to each other, even if their only connection was their military affiliation. It was a necessity in military life. Because of its nomadic nature, military families have always had to rely on other military families who can connect them with important resources such as child care and other details about their new communities.
Unlike many civilian families, military families don’t have the built in support system of extended family nearby. Therefore, they have always reached out to other military families for information about the new location, advice and support. Social media has taken that outreach to a new and different level.
“As social media began to take off, we started to see military families using it to connect with each other in their new communities,” says Melissa Seligman, co-founder of the website Her War Her Voice and author of the book The Day After He Left for Iraq. “It helped them set up new emotional safety nets and to stay connected to the people at the previous location.”
So many military families find support, friendship, and help from other military families on social media that bigger ideas develop. It was from social media connections that Seligman and her partner formed Her War Her Voice, a holistic support group for military families. “We formed as a group online before we ever met, and now, we make frequent trips across the country to meet each other. We also hold military spouse retreats twice a year,” Seligman said.
Seligman remembers training for her first Army 10-mile race with a friend at Fort Riley who she had met online. Halfway through the training, Seligman PCS’d to South Carolina. Her Fort Riley friend connected Seligman to a runner friend of hers in South Carolina through Facebook. Seligman trained for the race with the new friend and the Fort Riley friend even traveled to Washington DC to run the race with Seligman. “Through social media, I made life-long personal connections, and two friends trained me for a race I will never forget,” Seligman commented.
Social media can be a special benefit to Guard and Reserve families who are often isolated from the rest of the military community. “While they may have community roots, they rarely have anyone who can understand the military community. On the other side, active duty military families rarely have the steadfast roots of a community. Online communities give both groups community,” Seligman said.
Seligman goes on to point out that without social media, military families would not know they are not alone with their thoughts, concerns, struggles, and triumphs.
Christine Leccese is the marketing and communications manager at Military Pathways.
