IRL, Not so Much.

I love Twitter. I love Facebook. I think Linkedin is OK, but it’s more like a job board to me. I’m not digging Path so much. I love Instagram. I wish Hipster would update my Facebook page better, but Instagram is my favorite social photo app.

Keeping in touch with everyone through social media is just my speed. I get to do the things I need to do, I want to do, and I don’t have to get dressed up to meet anyone. Sure, there are some of you I really do love to see and I make an effort to have lunch with. There are some of you I wish I didn’t have to decline. But there are some of you whom I have found it to be uncomfortable with IRL.

Take the Internet superstar who’s avi is a dashing cartoon character who turned out to be like three feet tall as well as a 10-foot jerk. Take the chick with the sexy avatar who is aces with Photoshop. Take the guy who’s avi is all abs. Or the gal who is just boobs. Or the person who has been an egg from day one. Granted, some people don’t want us to see their real faces. They want to be unrecognized IRL. So if you want to sustain this fantasy for the rest of us, why oh why do you want to participate in tweet-up gatherings where the facade must fade away?

I get the alias view. Look at me! I’m a super hero on Twitter, but I wouldn’t want any of you to think I can fly. There are plenty of real pictures of me floating around the Internet and here on the blog. I’ve owned my looks for a long time now. I have the face of EXPERIENCE.

I’m shy and I’m not. I like that I can talk to strangers about anything if I want to know what’s going on. I like that I can be a journalist and approach people and ask questions for a story. I like that I can ride my bike, or run, or surf, or swim, and find a reason to connect with a fellow enthusiast.

Here is where I am what I am. I write what I feel and you may or may not respond or care. I am sheltered by this electronic curtain, much like the Wizard of Oz who was so easily diminished. I’m not here to be someone I am not; I am here to be as much of me as I can possibly be. And part of that should scratch the itch for those with whom I wish I could get together with but cannot. I know I should get out more, but my life is loaded.

I also think it’s kinda dopey to see all these people at an IRL gathering with their noses on their gadgets. What’s the point?