being social

Last week I attended my first Social Media Breakfast in Ottawa. 

I loved the fact that a community of people got together to discuss online communities of people who have shared interests in the world of networking, media, marketing and business. These layers of interconnectedness made me smile: people tweeting about the commentary that took place at the breakfast; bloggers meeting each other face to face for the first time, only recognizing each other by their respective handles; iPhones flashing as pictures and live "stills" were taken of the event and immediately uploaded to YouTube and Facebook. It felt edgy and surreal to be there, like we all knew we were on the cusp of something really different. Like a tiny crack in time was open and we had a glimpse of the future.  

I'm a devourer of anything social media. I have Google Alerts send me daily news about it. I read social media blogs. Many of the people I follow on Twitter are recognized in the industry as being gurus. I tweet. I post on Facebook. I have a blog. I get regular feeds. I tag content and bookmarks. 

My favorite pastimes are to peruse the pages of Tweets (on Twitter) and Facebook and see who's connected to whom, what they are talking about, what they are reading, what they are looking at and commenting on. I wouldn't say I am one of the creators of any of the tools or applications of social media, but I'm fascinated by all the variations that social media and social networking is bringing the world of business and human interaction. 

I think it's a natural extension of my own personality. As human beings we are connected. To each other. To the world around us. And so, by extension, our lives tend to overlap in places. We have similarities. Shared experiences. Common friends. Together, this intertwining of worlds and lives reminds me that we are meant to be a community. Our physical lives may be separated by miles, but we thrive when we can build communities of knowledge, information, support, and interest. 

It's a natural leap to move from personal networking to social networking for business. And this is what brought me to the breakfast in the first place. I'm simply marking this point in time with a blog because I'm very curious to see what the next 3-5 years will bring.