I went viral with a social media post this week, and was reminded what an extraordinary experience it is.
My phone wouldn’t stop buzzing and bleeping, and in the end I had to turn off the notifications to get a moment of peace.
The last time this happened was about four years ago, in the final few months of my time at the BBC.
You might remember the story: about a group of boys at a school in Devon who were fed up with being hot in the scorching weather.
They weren’t allowed to wear shorts to school, so instead they wore skirts.
It went crazy, as you can see from the Tweet in the photo.
My post this time was about my gratitude for getting a coronavirus booster shot.
I expected to be trolled, as that was what had happened with my posts thanking the NHS, scientists, and healthcare professionals for my previous two vaccinations.
But on this occasion I received nothing other than kind words and uplifting comments from an enormous range of people, and it was so heartening.
I’d like to say a big thank you here to everyone who took the time to get in touch and add their voices to what I am now convinced is the vast majority of us…
No matter how noisy the tiny minority who are against the vaccines may be.
But the point of this blog, on the subject of statements and stories, is a rather different one, although important nonetheless.
Most people who commented on my post simply wrote a line or two of support.
Which was lovely, and I was grateful for, but…
Guess which comments really stayed with me?
It wasn’t the statements, but the stories.
Many people talked about friends or family members who hadn’t been vaccinated, and had either died or were still seriously ill.
One in particular mentioned how they had only suffered minor symptoms after being vaccinated, while an unvaccinated friend was in intensive care.
Perhaps the most memorable was a man who had to go into hospital with Covid, despite being vaccinated...
He was told he would never have survived without the protection the vaccine gave his body...
And he recalls vividly watching as unvaccinated people died around him.
That one left me staring at the screen, imagining the scene, and how he must have felt.
It was only a brief story, but so powerful.
I’ll always remember going viral again, particularly given the (sadly) contentious nature of the subject, and the wonderful support I got for my stance in favour of the vaccination.
But the detail I’ll recall will be the stories people shared, about dreadful suffering which could have been avoided if the people they knew had taken up the opportunity of vaccination.
And why, perhaps, did so many people react to my post?
Partly because that itself told a little story.
The point of this blog being something I have touched on before, and doubtless will say again, because it’s so powerful and I believe in it so strongly:
If you want an important message remembered, don’t just say it in a statement.
Tell it in a story.
By the way, you can see the post which went viral, along with the stories people wrote, on my LinkedIn profile here
Please feel free to comment yourself, and connect with me. I'd be delighted.