Imagine someone you love has been taken by a foreign, hostile government.  Where do you turn?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee went online.  There they found a committed, vocal and galvanized group of people who shared their goal of bringing their loved ones home from captivity in North Korea.  When you love someone, the why’s and how’s fade pretty quick.  Your overriding concern is simply getting them home safe. 

I speak from experience: Laura is my friend’s little sister.

There was an initial round of shocked emails as friends heard the news.  We know Laura as a level-headed, committed journalist, a woman who cared a great deal about exposing injustice and doing what she could to make the world a better place.

The women’s plight was aided a great deal by Laura’s older sister, Lisa Ling, a reporter for National Geographic and Oprah. Lisa is savvy as they come, and grasped quickly how the media could help raise awareness. The families hit the talk show and news circuit, pleading for their loved ones’ release.

As the cause gathered steam, online communities came together.  Concerned netizens – friends, family and total strangers – created multiple Facebook groups, organized vigils attracting hundreds of participants (and the news!), and spread the word via Twitter.  A blog dedicated to breaking headlines and analysis sprung up. People touched by the story shared the latest information, ideas and calls to action with each other.  Perhaps most importantly, these concerned folks also helped provide support to the families…and the young women being held.

Spurred by frustration and a need to do something – anything – I started an online petition.  I wanted the families and powers-that-be to see people were thinking about the young women. I thought modestly: it would be great if 5000 people cared enough to register and sign up.  Hundreds of Twitter, Facebook and email mentions later, that petition and others gained 100K+ signatures. And even though the girls are home, people are still signing with well-wishes.

We know the happy ending.  Immediately I saw tons of folks in my Facebook and Twitter networks posting the news and it hit me:

People around the world, people who would never meet Laura or Euna, cared.  They were moved to tears by their safe and happy return.  I don’t know exactly what we did to bring them home with social media, but I know this: the online community is global one, and regardless of who or where we are, people connected in the name of freedom to enact change online.  If it wasn’t for this great upwelling of online support, who knows how things might have turned out different?

I asked Lisa for her take on social media and its effect on the campaign to bring the girls home.

“Not only did it social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter keep my sister Laura and Euna Lee’s story alive, it truly sparked a powerful movement that I believe pressured both our country and North Korea to come to the table,” she said. “Vigils were held all over the world that were organized utilizing social media. It gave people an opportunity to show the world that support for the release of Laura and Euna was pervasive and powerful. We are so thankful that we had such outlets.”

Welcome home, Laura and Euna.  We missed you.