by Blogger HH on July 13, 2010
(Re-posted with permission from Liz @ Dogs & Wine)
Washington DC is a town that thrives on networking, face time, and happy hours. You can’t go one night in the District without someone throwing some sort of event. A benefit for blind diabetic cats from France. A fundraiser for a halfway home for wayward Capitol Hill interns. A happy hour for beleaguered non-profit employees.
For the most part, I tend to pass on quite a few of these gatherings because I am a boring person who really loves her couch to a point that it’s almost a bit unhealthy.
But then Social Media Day’s event at Science Club came along, and it is hard to turn down an event that uses a llama in its logo.
Llama says: “Just try and say no, Liz. I dare you. I double dare you.”
Now when it comes to social media, I am a house divided. On one hand, I can Google your Twitter until your Yahoo falls off. On the other, I find terms like “crowd-sourcing” and “conversation movers” to be completely pretentious to the point where I want to crowd-source my backhand across someone’s face.
But the llama… it called to me.
I answered.
That’s me in the upper right hand frame! Evidence that I do indeed know how to socialize. Courtesy of @tyotoys.
In short, the event was fantastic. Admittedly there were moments where I said things like “her strength is her ability to manipulate the medium”, which resulted in me almost throwing up a little bit in my mouth. Overall, though, the night reminded me why social media is such a great thing.
Those of us who engage in social media tend to err ever so slightly on the side of egotism. (I’m no exception. I think I’m awesome.) We like the sound of our own voice so much that we are convinced other people must and will hear it. We have shit to say. We’ll divulge flaws, emote publicly, and poke fun at ourselves. Sometimes in a long, meandering blog post, and other times in only 140 characters or less.
Bloggers/Tweeps/Whatevers are such a rowdy ever-expanding bunch, it was only a matter of time before people came along who tried to manage, label, and dissect what social media is and what makes those of us involved tick.
But when you sift through all the fluffy jargon and “Twitter optimization”-speak, social media is about exchanging ideas and having your voice heard. Last night I got to talk with people who, without tools like Twitter and blogging, I would have never met.
Some inspired me. Some made me laugh. Some sang “Dayman” from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia with me, at the top of our lungs.
It was a hilariously amazing, awe inspiring, idea sharing, beer spilling, Jameson swilling evening.
And without social media, last night would have been just another night sitting on my couch, watching the episode of Law & Order where a guy found a painting offensive and killed someone over it for the third time.
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Thanks Liz! Great meeting & chattin’ up with ya.
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