There is nothing like face to face - a hug, a handshake, a smile. I am sitting in the middle of a ring of 800 bloggers at Blogher watching connection happening LIVE. A fresh reminder that the drive to connect online is a basic human need that is solidified in the "face to face/off-line/3D world".
I love the punch and extra spark that happens at that unique moment when you shake someone's hand, hear their name or read their badge and then realize you have shared thoughts and links and comments across "the tubes" with the real flesh and blood person standing in front of you. It is a unique feeling that re-energizes me every time and deepens the relationships I have both online and offline.
Something to remember as we increasingly spend more and more time connecting online - personally or professionally and another indicator of how we truly live in a relationship economy.
So here I am, letting you know online how nice it was to connect offline. But what about the relationships we develop standing on line? The next frontier?
Posted by: Susan E | July 27, 2007 at 10:50 PM
Online and in-person relationships are different but complementary.
The former are great at identifying interesting people you wouldn't normally connect with, and for maintaining numerous 'weak' relationships. The latter have the potential to be both richer and deeper.
One wonders if part of FaceBook’s success is that it understand s this - because its fundamental networks (college, town and recently employer) are based on common location – increasing the potential for relationships to repeatedly cross the online in-person boundary.
Posted by: Peter Childs | July 30, 2007 at 09:46 AM